Huang-Di hatte sein Xian-chi; Yao, sein Da Zhang; Shun, sein Da Shao; Yu, sein Da Xia; Tang, sein Da Hu; König Wen, seine Musik des Pi-yong; und König Wu und der Herzog von Zhou schufen die Wu. Bei den Trauerriten der Alten hatten Adelige und Niedrige ihre jeweiligen Gebräuche, Hoch- und Niedrigrangige ihre unterschiedlichen Grade. Der Sarg des Himmelssohnes war siebenfach; der eines Feudalherren fünffach; der eines hohen Beamten dreifach; der anderer Beamten zweifach. Aber jetzt wollte Mo-zi allein im Leben nicht singen und nach dem Tod keine Trauerkleidung tragen. Als Regel für alle wollte er einen Sarg aus Elaeococca-Holz, drei Zoll dick und ohne Umhüllung. Die Lehre solcher Lektionen kann nicht als Beweis seiner Liebe zu den Menschen angesehen werden; seine eigene Praxis würde sicherlich zeigen, dass er sich selbst nicht liebte; doch dies war nicht ausreichend, um Mo-zis Ansichten zu widerlegen. Dennoch werden Menschen singen, und er verurteilt das Singen; Menschen werden klagen, und er verurteilt das Klagen; Menschen werden ihre Freude ausdrücken, und er verurteilt solchen Ausdruck: Ist dies wirklich im Einklang mit der menschlichen Natur? Durch das Leben Mühe und im Tod Kargheit: Sein Weg ist einer großer Unfreundlichkeit. Er verursacht den Menschen Kummer und Melancholie und ist schwer in die Praxis umzusetzen. Ich fürchte, er kann nicht als der Weg eines Weisen angesehen werden. Entgegen den Gedanken der Menschen überall werden die Menschen ihn nicht ertragen. Obwohl Mo-zi selbst ihn ertragen könnte, wie kann die Abneigung der Welt dagegen überwunden werden? Die Welt lehnt ihn ab, so muss er weit entfernt vom Weg der (alten) Könige sein.

Mo-zi sagte, um seine Ansichten zu preisen: „Einst, als Yu die Flutwasser ableitete, befreite er die Kanäle des Jiang und He und öffnete die Kommunikation mit ihnen von den Regionen der vier Yi und der neun Provinzen. Die berühmten Hügel, mit denen er sich befasste, waren 300, die Nebenflüsse waren 3000 und die kleineren unzählig. Mit eigenen Händen trug er den Sack und führte die Spaten, bis er alle Ströme des Landes (zum Meer leitete) vereinigt hatte. An seinen Beinen, vom Knie bis zum Knöchel, war kein Haar mehr übrig. Er badete sein Haar im heftigen Wind und kämmte es im strömenden Regen, so markierte er die unzähligen Staaten. Yu war ein großer Weiser, und so mühte er sich im Dienste der Welt.“ Die Wirkung davon ist, dass in dieser späteren Zeit die meisten Mohisten Felle und Dolychos-Stoff tragen, mit Schuhen aus Holz oder geflochtenem Hanf, Tag und Nacht nicht aufhören, sondern solches Mühen ihrerseits als ihre höchste Errungenschaft betrachten. Sie sagen, wer dies nicht tun kann, handle gegen den Weg des Yu und sei nicht geeignet, ein Mohist zu sein. Die Jünger von Qin von Xiang-li, die Anhänger der verschiedenen Feudalherren; und Mohisten des Südens, wie Ku Huo, Ji Chi und Zheng Ling-zi, rezitierten alle die Texte des Mo, aber sie unterschieden sich in den Einwänden, die sie gegen sie erhoben, und in ihren betrügerischen Glossen nannten sie einander Mohisten verschiedener Schulen. Sie hatten ihre Disputationen, die sich um „was hart war“ und „was weiß war“, was „Gleichheit“ und was „Unterschied“ ausmachte, und ihre Ausdrücke über den Unterschied zwischen „dem Ungeraden“ und „dem Geraden“ drehten, mit denen sie einander antworteten. Sie betrachteten ihr angesehenstes Mitglied als einen Weisen und wollten ihn zu ihrem Oberhaupt machen, in der Hoffnung, dass er so an zukünftige Generationen weitergegeben würde. Bis zum heutigen Tag sind diese Kontroversen nicht geklärt.

Die Idee von Mo Di und Qin Hua-li war gut, aber ihre Praxis war falsch. Sie hätten die Mohisten künftiger Generationen dazu gebracht, sich so zu quälen, bis kein Haar mehr an ihren Beinen war, und sich immer weiter anzuspornen; (so eine Bedingung zu schaffen), die zwar der Unordnung überlegen, aber dem Ergebnis guter Regierungsführung unterlegen war. Dennoch war Mo-zi tatsächlich einer der besten Menschen der Welt, den man vergeblich suchen würde, um seinengleichen zu finden. Verfallen und abgenutzt (seine Person) mochte sein, aber er ist nicht zu verwerfen – wahrlich ein Gelehrter von Fähigkeiten!

Sich nicht von vorherrschenden Bräuchen verstricken zu lassen; alle schmückenden Reize an sich selbst zu meiden; nicht rücksichtslos im Umgang mit anderen zu sein; sich nicht stur gegen eine Menge zu stellen; den Frieden und die Ruhe der Welt zu wünschen, um die Leben der Menschen zu bewahren; und sein Handeln einzustellen, wenn genug für die Ernährung anderer und sich selbst erreicht war, um zu zeigen, dass dies das Ziel seines Geistes war – ein solches Schema gehörte zum System des Dao in der Antike und wurde von Song Xing und Yin Wen geschätzt. Als sie von solchen Wegen hörten, waren sie davon begeistert. Sie fertigten die Hua-shan-Mütze an und trugen sie als ihr Erkennungszeichen. In ihrem Umgang mit anderen, was auch immer ihre Unterschiede sein mochten, begannen sie damit, ihnen gegenüber nachsichtig zu sein. Ihr Name für „die Nachsicht des Geistes“ war „das Handeln des Geistes“. Durch die Wärme der Zuneigung suchten sie die Harmonie der Freude und die Vereinigung aller innerhalb der vier Meere; und ihr Wunsch war es, dies überall als das Wichtigste zu etablieren. Sie ertrugen Beleidigungen, ohne sie als Schande zu empfinden; sie suchten, das Volk vor Kämpfen zu retten; sie verboten Aggressionen und suchten, die Waffen des Streits zum Schweigen zu bringen, um ihr Zeitalter vor Krieg zu bewahren. Auf diese Weise zogen sie überallhin, berieten die Hohen und unterrichteten die Niederen. Auch wenn die Welt sie nicht aufnehmen mochte, bestanden sie nur umso stärker auf ihrem Ziel und gaben es nicht auf. Daher heißt es: „Die Hohen und Niederen mochten ihrer müde sein, aber sie waren stark, sich zu zeigen.“ Trotz alledem handelten sie zu sehr aus Rücksicht auf andere und zu wenig für sich selbst. Es war, als ob sie sagten: „Was wir verlangen und wünschen, ist einfach, dass uns fünf Pints Reis zur Verfügung gestellt werden – das wird genug sein.“ Aber ich fürchte, der Meister würde davon nicht satt werden; und die Jünger, obwohl sie hungerten, müssten immer noch an die Welt denken und, Tag und Nacht unermüdlich, sagen: „Muss ich mein Leben bewahren? Soll ich planen, wie ich mich über den Meister, den Retter des Zeitalters, erheben kann?“ Es war außerdem, als ob sie sagten: „Der Edle prüft (die Fehler anderer) nicht zensorisch; er leiht sich nichts von anderen, um seine eigenen Bemühungen zu überflügeln; wenn jemand meint, dass er der Welt nutzlos ist, weiß er, dass deren Intelligenz seiner eigenen unterlegen ist; er betrachtet das Verbot von Aggressionen und die Stilllegung von Waffen als äußere Errungenschaft und die Reduzierung seiner eigenen Wünsche auf ein Minimum als den inneren Triumph.“ Dies war ihre Unterscheidung zwischen dem Großen und dem Kleinen, dem Subtilen und dem Groben; und mit dem Erreichen dessen hörten sie auf.

Public-spirited, and with nothing of the partizan; easy and compliant, without any selfish partialities; capable of being led, without any positive tendencies; following in the wake of others, without any double mind; not looking round because of anxious thoughts; not scheming in the exercise of their wisdom; not choosing between parties, but going along with all - all such courses belonged to the Daoists of antiquity, and they were appreciated by Peng Meng, Tian Pian, and Shen Dao. When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They considered that the first thing for them to do was to adjust the controversies about different things. They said, 'Heaven can cover, but it cannot sustain; Earth can contain, but it cannot cover. The Great Dao embraces all things, but It does not discriminate between them.'They knew that all things have what they can do and what they cannot do. Hence it is said, 'If you select, you do not reach all; if you teach some things, you must omit the others; but the Dao neglects none.' Therefore Shen Dao discarded his knowledge and also all thought of himself, acting only where he had no alternative, and pursued it as his course to be indifferent and pure in his dealings with others. He said that the best knowledge was to have no knowledge, and that if we had a little knowledge it was likely to prove a dangerous thing. Conscious of his unfitness, he undertook no charge, and laughed at those who valued ability and virtue. Remiss and evasive, he did nothing, and disallowed the greatest sages which the world had known. Now with a hammer, now with his hand, smoothing all corners, and breaking all bonds, he accommodated himself to all conditions. He disregarded right and wrong, his only concern being to avoid trouble; he learned nothing from the wise and thoughtful, and took no note of the succession of events, thinking only of carrying himself with a lofty disregard of everything. He went where he was pushed, and followed where he was led, like a whirling wind, like a feather tossed about, like the revolutions of a grindstone.What was the reason that he appeared thus complete, doing nothing wrong? that, whether in motion or at rest, he committed no error, and could be charged with no transgression? Creatures that have no knowledge are free from the troubles that arise from self-assertion and the entanglements that spring from the use of knowledge. Moving and at rest, they do not depart from their proper course, and all their life long they do not receive any praise. Hence (Shen Dao) said, 'Let me come to be like a creature without knowledge. Of what use are the (teachings of the) sages and worthies?' But a clod of earth never fails in the course (proper for it), and men of spirit and eminence laughed together at him, and said, 'The way of Shen Dao does not describe the conduct of living men; that it should be predicable only of the dead is strange indeed!'It was just the same with Tian Pian. He learned under Peng Meng, but it was as if he were not taught at all. The master of Peng Meng said, 'The Daoist professors of old came no farther than to say that nothing was absolutely right and nothing absolutely wrong.' His spirit was like the breath of an opposing wind; how can it be described in words? But he was always contrary to (the views of) other men, which he would not bring together to view, and he did not escape shaving the corners and bonds (of which I have spoken). What he called the Dao was not the true Dao, and what he called the right was really the wrong. Peng Meng, Tian Pian, and Shen Dao did not in fact know the Dao; but nevertheless they had heard in a general way about it.

To take the root (from which things spring) as the essential (part), and the things as its coarse (embodiment); to see deficiency in accumulation; and in the solitude of one's individuality to dwell with the spirit-like and intelligent - such a course belonged to the Dao of antiquity, and it was appreciated by Guan Yin and Lao Dan. When they heard of such ways, they were delighted with them. They built their system on the assumption of an eternal non-existence, and made the ruling idea in it that of the Grand Unity. They made weakness and humility their mark of distinction, and considered that by empty vacuity no injury could be sustained, but all things be preserved in their substantiality.

Guan Yin says, 'To him who does not dwell in himself the forms of things show themselves as they are. His movement is like that of water; his stillness is like that of a mirror; his response is like that of the echo. His tenuity makes him seem to be disappearing altogether; he is still as a clear (lake), harmonious in his association with others, and he counts gain as loss. He does not take precedence of others, but follows them.'

Lao Dan says, 'He knows his masculine power, but maintains his female weakness,-- becoming the channel into which all streams flow. He knows his white purity, but keeps his disgrace, becoming the valley of the world. Men all prefer to be first; he alone chooses to be last, saying, "I will receive the offscourings of the world." Men all choose fulness; he alone chooses emptiness. He does not store, and therefore he has a superabundance; he looks solitary, but has a multitude around him. In his conducting of himself he is easy and leisurely and wastes nothing. He does nothing, and laughs at the clever and ingenious. Men all seek for happiness, but he feels complete in his imperfect condition, and says, "Let me only escape blame." He regards what is deepest as his root, and what is most restrictive as his rule; and says, "The strong is broken; the sharp and pointed is blunted." He is always generous and forbearing with others, and does not encroach on any man - this may be pronounced the height (of perfection).' 0 Guan Yin, and Lao Dan, ye were among the greatest men of antiquity; True men indeed!

That the shadowy and still is without bodily form; that change and transformation are ever proceeding, but incapable of being determined. What is death? What is life? What is meant by the union of Heaven and Earth? Does the spiritual intelligence go away? Shadowy, where does it go? Subtle, whither does it proceed? All things being arranged as they are, there is no one place which can be fitly ascribed to it. Such were the questions belonging to the scheme of Dao in antiquity, and they were appreciated by Zhuang Zhou. When he heard of such subjects, he was delighted with them. (He discussed them), using strange and mystical expressions, wild and extravagant words, and phrases to which no definite meaning could be assigned. He constantly indulged his own wayward ideas, but did not make himself a partisan, nor look at them as peculiar to himself. Considering that men were sunk in stupidity and could not be talked to in dignified style, he employed the words of the cup of endless application, with important quotations to substantiate the truth, and an abundance of corroborative illustrations. He chiefly cared to occupy himself with the spirit-like operation of heaven and earth, and did not try to rise above the myriads of things. He did not condemn the agreements and differences of others, so that he might live in peace with the prevalent views. Though his writings may seem to be sparkling trifles, there is no harm in amusing one's self with them; though his phraseology be ever-varying, its turns and changes are worth being looked at - the fulness and completeness of his ideas cannot be exhausted. Above he seeks delight in the Maker; below, he has a friendly regard to those who consider life and death as having neither beginning nor end. As regards his dealing with the Root (origin of all things), he is comprehensive and great, opening up new views, deep, vast, and free. As regards the Author and Master (the Great Dao Itself), be may be pronounced exact and correct, carrying our thoughts to range and play on high. Nevertheless on the subject of transformation, and the emancipation of that from (the thraldom of) things, his principles are inexhaustible, and are not derived from his predecessors. They are subtle and obscure, and cannot be fully explained.

Hui Shi had many ingenious notions. His writings would fill five carriages; but his doctrines were erroneous and contradictory, and his words were wide of their mark. Taking up one thing after another, he would say: 'That which is so great that there is nothing outside it may be called the Great One; and that which is so small that there is nothing inside it maybe called the Small One.' 'What has no thickness and will not admit of being repeated is 1000 li in size.' 'Heaven may be as low as the earth.' 'A mountain may be as level as a marsh.' ' The sun in the meridian may be the sun declining.' 'A creature may be born to life and may die at the same time.' '(When it is said that) things greatly alike are different from things a little alike, this is what is called making little of agreements and differences; (when it is said that) all things are entirely alike or entirely different, this is what is called making much of agreements and differences.' 'The south is unlimited and yet has a limit.' 'I proceed to Yue to-day and came to it yesterday.' 'Things which are joined together can be separated.' 'I know the centre of the world - it is north of Yan or south of Yue.' 'If all things be regarded with love, heaven and earth are of one body (with me).'

Hui Shi by such sayings as these made himself very conspicuous throughout the kingdom, and was considered an able debater. All other debaters vied with one another and delighted in similar exhibitions. (They would say), 'There are feathers in an egg.' 'A fowl has three feet.' 'The kingdom belongs to Ying.' 'A dog might have been (called) a sheep.' 'A horse has eggs.' 'A tadpole has a tail.' 'Fire is not hot.' 'A mountain gives forth a voice.' 'A wheel does not tread on the ground.' 'The eye does not see.' 'The finger indicates, but needs not touch, (the object).' 'Where you come to may not be the end.' 'The tortoise is longer than the snake.' 'The carpenter's square is not square.' 'A compass should not itself be round.' 'A chisel does not surround its handle.' 'The shadow of a flying bird does not (itself) move.' 'Swift as the arrowhead is, there is a time when it is neither fiying nor at rest.' 'A dog is not a hound.' 'A bay horse and a black ox are three.' 'A white dog is black.' 'A motherless colt never had a mother.' 'If from a stick a foot long you every day take the half of it, in a myriad ages it will not be exhausted.' - It was in this way that the debaters responded to Hui Shi, all their lifetime, without coming to an end.

Huan Tuan and Gong-sun Long were true members of this class. By their specious representations they threw a glamour over men's minds and altered their ideas. They vanquished men in argument, but could not subdue their minds, only keeping them in the enclosure of their sophistry. Hui Shi daily used his own knowledge and the arguments of others to propose strange theses to all debaters - such was his practice.

At the same time he would talk freely of himself, thinking himself the ablest among them, and saying, 'In heaven or earth who is my match?' Shi maintained indeed his masculine energy, but he had not the art (of controversy). In the south there was a man of extraordinary views, named Huang Liao, who asked him how it was that the sky did not fall nor the earth sink, and what was the cause of wind, rain, and the thunder's roll and crash. Shi made no attempt to evade the questions, and answered him without any exercise of thought, talking about all things, without pause, on and on without end; yet still thinking that his words were few, and adding to them the strangest observations. He thought that to contradict others was a real triumph, and wished to make himself famous by overcoming them; and on this account he was not liked by the multitude of debaters. He was weak in real attainment, though he might seem strong in comparison with others, and his way was narrow and dark. If we look at Hui Shi's ability from the standpoint of Heaven and Earth, it was only like the restless activity of a mosquito or gadfly; of what service was it to anything? To give its full development to any one capacity is a good thing, and he who does so is in the way to a higher estimation of the Dao; but Hui Shi could find no rest for himself in doing this. He diffused himself over the world of things without satiety, till in the end he had only the reputation of being a skilful debater. Alas! Hui Shi, with all his talents, vast as they were, made nothing out; he pursued all subjects and never came back (with success). It was like silencing an echo by his shouting, or running a race with his shadow. Alas!