The Will of Heaven III

Mozi said: "The reason for the chaos in the world—what is it after all? It is that the gentlemen and scholars of the world all understand small principles but do not understand great principles. How do we know they understand small principles but do not understand great principles? Because they do not understand the will of Heaven. How do we know they do not understand the will of Heaven? It can be known from how people handle relations with their clans. Now if someone offends people within his own clan, he can still flee to another clan to avoid them. Yet a father admonishes his son, and an elder brother admonishes his younger brother, saying: 'Be cautious and careful! If you are not cautious and careful within your own clan, can you still go to another state?' Now if someone offends people within his own state, he can still flee to another state to avoid them. Yet a father admonishes his son, and an elder brother admonishes his younger brother, saying: 'Be cautious and careful! In another state you cannot fail to be cautious and careful.' Now all people live under Heaven and serve Heaven. If they offend Heaven, there is no place to which they can flee. Yet no one knows to admonish one another mutually. I therefore know that people do not understand great matters. Thus Mozi said: 'Be cautious and careful! You must do what Heaven desires and remove what Heaven detests.'"

One asked: "What does Heaven desire? And what does Heaven detest?" The reply said: "Heaven desires righteousness and detests unrighteousness." How is this known? The reply said: "Righteousness is correctness. How is it known that righteousness is correctness? When there is righteousness in the world, it is well-ordered; when there is no righteousness, it is chaotic. I therefore know that righteousness is correctness. Now as for what is called correctness, it never comes from below to correct those above; it must come from above to correct those below. Thus common people cannot presume to set standards for themselves; there are scholars to correct them. Scholars cannot presume to set standards for themselves; there are great officers to correct them. Great officers cannot presume to set standards for themselves; there are feudal lords to correct them. Feudal lords cannot presume to set standards for themselves; there are the Three Dukes to correct them. The Three Dukes cannot presume to set standards for themselves; there is the Son of Heaven to correct them. The Son of Heaven cannot presume to govern by himself; there is Heaven to correct him. Now the gentlemen and scholars of the world all understand that the Son of Heaven governs the world, but they do not understand that Heaven governs the Son of Heaven. Therefore the sages of old clearly used this principle to teach people, saying: 'If the Son of Heaven does good deeds, Heaven can reward him; if the Son of Heaven commits errors, Heaven can punish him. If the Son of Heaven's rewards and punishments are not appropriate, and his judgments in cases are not just, then diseases and calamities will arise in the world, and frost and dew will not come at the proper times.' The Son of Heaven must raise his cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs well, prepare pure offerings and sweet wine, and use them to pray and sacrifice, seeking blessings from Heaven. I have never heard of Heaven praying and sacrificing to the Son of Heaven to seek blessings. I therefore know that Heaven is more honorable and more important than the Son of Heaven. Thus righteousness does not originate from the foolish and base; it must originate from the honorable and wise. One asked: 'Who is honorable? Who is wise?' The reply said: 'Heaven is honorable; Heaven is wise.' Then righteousness indeed originates from Heaven. Now if the gentlemen and scholars of the world wish to practice righteousness, they cannot but follow the will of Heaven."

One asked: "What is it to follow the will of Heaven?" The reply said: "It is to love all people in the world inclusively." How is it known that Heaven loves all people in the world inclusively? Because Heaven inclusively partakes of their sacrifices. How is it known that Heaven inclusively partakes of their sacrifices? From ancient times to the present, no matter how remote or isolated a state, they raise cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs, prepare pure offerings and sweet wine, and use them to respectfully sacrifice to the Supreme Lord, the mountains and rivers, and the ghosts and spirits. Therefore it is known that Heaven inclusively partakes of their sacrifices. If Heaven inclusively partakes of their sacrifices, then it must inclusively love them. By way of analogy, consider the rulers of Chu and Yue. Now the King of Chu partakes of food within the four borders of Chu, and therefore loves the people of Chu. The King of Yue partakes of food within the four borders of Yue, and therefore loves the people of Yue. Now Heaven inclusively possesses the world and partakes of sacrifices, and I therefore know that Heaven inclusively loves the people of the world.

Moreover, Heaven's care for the people is not limited to certain things and then stops. Now among the states of the world, wherever there are people who eat grains, if within that state an innocent person is killed, there will surely be some inauspicious event. One asked: 'Who killed the innocent person?' The reply said: 'A human.' 'Who sends down the inauspicious event?' The reply said: 'Heaven.' If Heaven in its heart truly did not love these people, why would it send down inauspicious events when someone kills an innocent person? Moreover, Heaven's care for the people is very profound; Heaven's care for the people is very manifest. This can already be known. How is it known that Heaven loves the people? I know it from the fact that worthy people invariably reward the good and punish the violent. How is it known that worthy people invariably reward the good and punish the violent? I know it from the sage kings of the Three Dynasties of the past. Thus the sage kings of the Three Dynasties of the past—Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, King Wen, and King Wu—loved all people inclusively, thereby benefiting the people, changing the people's minds, and leading them to revere the Supreme Lord, the mountains and rivers, and the ghosts and spirits. Heaven considered that they followed what Heaven loved and loved the people, followed what Heaven benefited and benefited the people, and therefore gave them rewards, placed them in high positions, established them as Sons of Heaven to serve as models, and called them sages. This is the proof of rewarding the good. Thus the tyrant kings of the Three Dynasties of the past—Jie, Zhou, King You, and King Li—hated all people inclusively, thereby harming the people, changing the people's minds, and leading them to revile and insult the Supreme Lord, the mountains and rivers, and the ghosts and spirits. Heaven considered that they did not follow what Heaven loved but hated the people, did not follow what Heaven benefited but harmed the people, and therefore gave them punishment, causing father and son to be separated, the state to be destroyed, the altars of soil and grain to be lost, and calamity to fall upon their own persons. Therefore the people of the world all gathered to denounce them, and for ten thousand generations their descendants continued, denouncing them without end, and called them lost kings. This is the proof of punishing the violent. Now if the gentlemen and scholars of the world wish to practice righteousness, they cannot but follow the will of Heaven."

One asked: "To follow the will of Heaven is inclusive love; to oppose the will of Heaven is exclusive love. Inclusive love as a Way is corrected by righteousness; exclusive love as a Way is corrected by violence. One asked: 'What is it to be corrected by righteousness?' The reply said: 'Great states do not attack small states; the strong do not bully the weak; the many do not harm the few; the cunning do not deceive the simple; the noble do not disdain the base; the rich do not despise the poor; the strong do not plunder the old. Therefore among the states of the world, none harm one another with water, fire, poison, weapons, or the like. If their actions benefit Heaven above, benefit ghosts in the middle, and benefit people below, these three benefits exist and nothing is not beneficial—this is called the Virtue of Heaven. Therefore all who engage in such affairs are sage, wise, benevolent, righteous, loyal, kind, compassionate, and filial. Thus the fine reputations of the world are gathered and bestowed upon them. What is the reason for this? It is because they follow the will of Heaven.' One asked: 'What is it to be corrected by violence?' The reply said: 'Great states attack small states; the strong bully the weak; the many harm the few; the cunning deceive the simple; the noble disdain the base; the rich despise the poor; the strong plunder the old. Therefore among the states of the world, they all harm one another with water, fire, poison, weapons, and the like. If their actions do not benefit Heaven above, do not benefit ghosts in the middle, and do not benefit people below, these three are not beneficial and nothing is beneficial—this is called the Thief of Heaven. Therefore all who engage in such affairs are rebels, robbers, unkind, unrighteous, disloyal, unkind, unfilial. Thus the foul reputations of the world are gathered and bestowed upon them. What is the reason for this? It is because they oppose the will of Heaven.'"

Therefore, Mozi established the standard of Heaven as a model and law, just as the wheelwright has a compass and the carpenter has a square. Now the wheelwright uses the compass and the carpenter uses the square, and thereby they know the difference between square and round. Thus, Mozi established the standard of Heaven as a model and law, and from this I know how far the gentlemen of the world are from righteousness. How do I know that the gentlemen of the world are far from righteousness? In the present age, the rulers of large states say, with some lenience: "I occupy the position of a large state; if I do not attack small states, how can I become a great power?" Therefore, they select their warriors, array their warships and chariots, and attack innocent states. They invade their borders, harvest their crops, cut down their trees, destroy their city walls to fill their moats, burn their ancestral temples, and plunder and kill their sacrificial victims. Among the people, those who resist are killed by force, and those who do not resist are bound and taken away. Men are made into slaves, grooms, and prisoners; women are made into pounders of grain and brewers of wine. Those rulers who delight in warfare do not know that this is unrighteous and inhumane; moreover, they tell the neighboring feudal lords: "I attacked a certain state, annihilated its army, and killed its generals, so many in number." The neighboring rulers also do not know that this is unrighteous and inhumane, and they prepare gifts of leather, silk, and wealth, exerting all their resources, and send envoys to offer congratulations and rewards. The rulers who delight in warfare are even more ignorant that this is unrighteous and inhumane, and they write it on bamboo and silk, storing it in their treasuries. As for their descendants, they must wish to follow the deeds of their former rulers, saying: "Why not open my treasury and look at the laws of my former ruler?" They will certainly not speak of the correctness of the governance of Kings Wen and Wu. Their governance being like this, they say: "I attacked a certain state, annihilated its army, and killed its generals, so many in number." Those rulers who delight in warfare do not know that this is unrighteous and inhumane, and their neighboring rulers also do not know that this is unrighteous and inhumane; therefore, warfare continues from generation to generation. This is what I mean by being unclear about great matters.

What is meant by knowing small matters? Suppose there is a person who enters another's field or garden and steals their peaches, plums, melons, and ginger. If the authorities catch him, they will punish him; if the crowd hears of it, they will condemn him. Why is this? The answer is: He has not labored but has taken the fruits, taking what is not rightfully his. How much more so for one who climbs over another's wall and forcibly takes away their children? Or for one who breaks into another's storehouse and steals their gold, silver, jade, silk, and cotton? Or for one who climbs over another's livestock pen and steals their oxen and horses? How much more so for one who kills an innocent person? Now, when the dukes and high ministers govern affairs, from killing an innocent person, to climbing over walls and forcibly taking away children, to breaking into storehouses and stealing gold, silver, jade, silk, and cotton, to climbing over livestock pens and stealing oxen and horses, to entering fields and gardens and stealing peaches, plums, melons, and ginger—the punishments they impose on these acts are no different from those of the ancient sage rulers Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu. Yet today, the feudal lords of the world all attack, invade, and annex one another, and this is tens of millions of times worse than killing a single innocent person; it is tens of millions of times worse than climbing over walls and forcibly taking away children, breaking into storehouses and stealing gold, silver, jade, silk, and cotton; it is tens of millions of times worse than climbing over livestock pens and stealing oxen and horses, or entering fields and gardens and stealing peaches, plums, melons, and ginger. Yet they themselves call it righteous. Therefore, Mozi says: Are those who confuse right and wrong any different from those who confuse the distinction between black and white, or sweet and bitter? Suppose there is a person who, when shown a little black, says it is black, but when shown a lot of black, says it is white. He will surely say: "My eyes are confused; I cannot distinguish the difference between black and white." Suppose there is a person who, when tasted a little sweetness, says it is sweet, but when tasted a lot of sweetness, says it is bitter. He will surely say: "My mouth is confused; I do not know the taste of sweet and bitter." Now, in the governance of dukes and high ministers, if someone kills a person, their own state prohibits it; but if someone can kill many people in a neighboring state, they are instead considered supremely righteous. Is this any different from confusing the distinction between black and white, or sweet and bitter?

Therefore, Mozi established the standard of Heaven as a model and law. It is not only Mozi who takes Heaven as the standard; in the book of the former kings, the Da Xia (Great Odes), it is said: "God spoke to King Wen: I cherish your bright virtue. Do not be loud or stern, do not abuse the Xia system and change the mandate of Heaven, do not use cleverness, do not use scheming, but follow the law of God." This is to admonish King Wen to take Heaven as the standard and to follow the law of God. Now, the gentlemen of the world, if they truly desire to practice righteousness, seek to become superior scholars, wish to conform to the way of the sage kings above, and benefit the state and the people below, they must examine the standard of Heaven. The standard of Heaven is the fundamental principle of righteousness.