Mohism
E291784
Mohism is an ancient Chinese philosophical school founded by Mozi that emphasizes universal love, merit-based governance, and practical, utilitarian ethics in contrast to Confucian ritualism.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Mohism canonical | 10 |
| Mohist school | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2715054 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Mohism Context triple: [Imperial China, hasPhilosophicalTradition, Mohism]
-
A.
Confucianism
Confucianism is an ancient Chinese philosophical and ethical system based on the teachings of Confucius, emphasizing moral virtue, social harmony, and proper conduct in personal and political life.
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B.
Mozi
Mozi was an influential Chinese philosopher and founder of Mohism, known for advocating universal love, meritocratic governance, and opposition to offensive warfare during the Warring States period.
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C.
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is a later development of Confucian thought that integrated metaphysical and ethical ideas to shape the philosophical, educational, and social foundations of East Asian societies.
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D.
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought were a flourishing array of philosophical traditions in ancient China, including Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and others, that profoundly shaped Chinese intellectual and political culture.
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E.
Taoism
Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophical and religious tradition centered on living in harmony with the Tao, emphasizing naturalness, simplicity, and spiritual cultivation.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Mohism Target entity description: Mohism is an ancient Chinese philosophical school founded by Mozi that emphasizes universal love, merit-based governance, and practical, utilitarian ethics in contrast to Confucian ritualism.
-
A.
Confucianism
Confucianism is an ancient Chinese philosophical and ethical system based on the teachings of Confucius, emphasizing moral virtue, social harmony, and proper conduct in personal and political life.
-
B.
Mozi
Mozi was an influential Chinese philosopher and founder of Mohism, known for advocating universal love, meritocratic governance, and opposition to offensive warfare during the Warring States period.
-
C.
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is a later development of Confucian thought that integrated metaphysical and ethical ideas to shape the philosophical, educational, and social foundations of East Asian societies.
-
D.
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought were a flourishing array of philosophical traditions in ancient China, including Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and others, that profoundly shaped Chinese intellectual and political culture.
-
E.
Taoism
Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophical and religious tradition centered on living in harmony with the Tao, emphasizing naturalness, simplicity, and spiritual cultivation.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Chinese philosophical school
ⓘ
ethical theory ⓘ political philosophy ⓘ |
| associatedWork | Mozi (book) ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | Confucianism ⓘ |
| coreDoctrine |
condemnation of fatalism
ⓘ
frugality in government ⓘ jian ai (impartial care) ⓘ merit-based governance ⓘ opposition to elaborate funerals ⓘ opposition to music and luxury ⓘ opposition to offensive warfare ⓘ promotion of social order through impartial norms ⓘ universal love ⓘ utilitarian ethics ⓘ |
| declinedDuring |
Han dynasty
ⓘ
Qin dynasty ⓘ |
| emergedDuring |
Spring and Autumn period
ⓘ
surface form:
Late Spring and Autumn period
Warring States period ⓘ |
| emphasizes |
benefit (li) as a moral criterion
ⓘ
practical problem-solving ⓘ technical and defensive expertise in warfare ⓘ |
| ethicalPrinciple |
consequentialist evaluation of actions
ⓘ
impartial concern for others ⓘ minimizing harm to the people ⓘ promoting the benefit of all under heaven ⓘ |
| founder | Mozi ⓘ |
| historicalStatus |
major rival to early Confucianism
ⓘ
one of the Hundred Schools of Thought ⓘ |
| influenced |
debates on consequentialism in Chinese philosophy
ⓘ
later Chinese political thought ⓘ |
| influencedBy | Mozi's teachings ⓘ |
| languageOfTradition | Classical Chinese ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Mozi ⓘ |
| opposes |
Confucian emphasis on elaborate rites and music
ⓘ
Confucian ritualism ⓘ |
| originatedIn | Ancient China ⓘ |
| philosophicalStance |
anti-fatalism
ⓘ
realism in ethics and politics ⓘ religious utilitarianism ⓘ social consequentialism ⓘ |
| politicalView |
critique of hereditary aristocracy
ⓘ
emphasis on practical governance ⓘ rule by merit rather than heredity ⓘ support for capable and virtuous rulers ⓘ |
| region | China ⓘ |
| supports |
belief in Heaven (Tian) as moral authority
ⓘ
belief that Heaven rewards the just and punishes the unjust ⓘ use of standards (fa) to guide behavior ⓘ |
| textualSource |
Mozi
ⓘ
surface form:
Mozi (text)
|
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Mohism Description of subject: Mohism is an ancient Chinese philosophical school founded by Mozi that emphasizes universal love, merit-based governance, and practical, utilitarian ethics in contrast to Confucian ritualism.
Referenced by (11)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Mohist school