Background reading for Professor Robert Eno’s course in Early Chinese Thought (Indiana University at Bloomington, 2010) nicely compares and contrasts Mohism with Confucianism, which truimphed over it, in 11 succinct pages. One of Mohism’s hallmarks was “inclusive care” or “universal love,” which was at odds with the Confucian emphasis on loyalty to one’s own family. Mohism also advocated meritocracy. How different would East Asian history have been had the Mohists prevailed over the Confucians, especially if Neo-Confucianism had never existed? Would there be no wangtta, nor Hell Joseon?
For a cinematic taste of Mohism in action, see the dandy 2006 Cantonese film A BATTLE OF WITS with Andy Lau as Mohist defensive strategist Ge Li and Super Junior’s Choi Si-won as Prince Liang Shi, along with fabulous martial arts master and actor Yu Chenghui.
The film prompted me to research Mohism, which led me to Robert Eno’s wonderful CHINATXT website at Indiana University in 2017. He retired in 2013, and generously left online his library of course materials developed for his students over 25 years. It moved to a new URL as of September 1, 2019. It is available free of charge, and is a tremendous gift of scholarship that sageuk nerds will want to explore. It includes early Chinese history, literature, and philosophy. Thank you, Professor Eno! Your grace is immeasurable! https://chinatxt.sitehost.iu.edu/Resources.html
Professor Eno’s treasure trove supplies a host of his own English translations of Chinese classical literature including Confucian works, The Book of Changes, the Daoist foundational text The Zhuangzi (produced by the master who wrote “The Butterfly Dream” referenced in ARANG AND THE MAGISTRATE, if I recall correctly), and other writings whose influence has cropped up in numerous Kdrama sageuks. His writing on Confucianism gave me a handle on the ways in which Neo-Confucianism differed from the original philosophy, which eventually led to much suffering in Joseon that continues to play out in 21st century ROK. I might add that I am a fan of Professor Eno’s dry wit. I love the tone of his writing.
Manseh Pakalanapikake! Thank you for the links. 😀
I just had a quick look at Prof. Eno’s article on Neo-Confucianism. It was useful because I actually don’t know much about the tenets of Neo-Confucianism itself. It still confuses me because their ideas sound decent… but when applied in the real world they created a rigid hierarchical system and lots of suffering.
It’s funny how the Jurchens crop up literally EVERYWHERE we look, even the rise of Neo-Confucianism: “However, the intellectual and political confusion brought on by the loss of North China to Jurchen invaders in 1127 created an opportunity for the teachings of these men to come to the fore [and of] an exceptional scholar named Zhu Xi (1130-1200)” (p. 2)
You’re most welcome, @wishfultoki. I’m glad you found the links useful, and encourage you to explore Prof. Eno’s CHINATXT articles. I really enjoy his writing. I agree that the Jurchens/Manchus are an interesting lot, and have greatly influenced Northeast Asia over an extended period of time. The Khitans are also interesting for the same reason.
After reading some of his info on Confucianism, I could kind of understand how the flavor of Neo-Confucianism that developed in Korea differed from the original. That may have been when I was watching REBEL. I’m neither a philosopher nor a Sinologist, so my simplistic impression is that the reciprocity that was supposed to exist in the Confucian Five Relations was lost when the Korean Neo-Confucians began tweaking the formula to satisfy male yangban who did not play well with others. I was intrigued to read somewhere that in earlier times, Korean society was matrilocal, with men moving into the wife’s family home when they married. Neo-Confucianism put an end to that.
All of which makes me wonder whether Mohism would have prevented the stiflingly-immobile social hierarchy that is depicted with so many negative consequences in Kdramas in general, not just sageuks. It’s intriguing to speculate.
“deploring the elaborate Confucian funeral rites and ceremonies as a waste of government funds which could be better spent on the welfare of the people”
LOL
Watch A WAR OF WITS, @ndlessjoie. It will really make you a convert. 🙂 And 19-year-old Siwon is easy on the eyes as the crown prince. Andy Lau is great fun to watch.
I’ve long had Taoist/Buddhist leanings, and Mohism is mighty appealing. I’m glad to know that there had been a school of thought in China that was opposed to aggression but knew how to put up their dukes in self-defense. More importantly, Mohists seem to have had an agape-like consideration for their fellow man that was unusual for the time in that part of the world. (Historians don’t call it the Warring States period for nothing.) But if you watch the movie, you’ll see that there was a down side to their philosophical concern for others.
PakalanaPikake
October 24, 2019 at 11:23 AM
MY COUNTRY / NOKDU FLOWER / A BATTLE OF WITS – Background
Mohism
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mohism
Mohist Thought
https://chinatxt.sitehost.iu.edu/Thought/Mohism.pdf
(MORE)
PakalanaPikake
October 24, 2019 at 11:24 AM
Comment was deleted
PakalanaPikake
October 24, 2019 at 11:30 AM
(MORE)
Robert Eno: Mohist Thought
https://chinatxt.sitehost.iu.edu/Thought/Mohism.pdf
Background reading for Professor Robert Eno’s course in Early Chinese Thought (Indiana University at Bloomington, 2010) nicely compares and contrasts Mohism with Confucianism, which truimphed over it, in 11 succinct pages. One of Mohism’s hallmarks was “inclusive care” or “universal love,” which was at odds with the Confucian emphasis on loyalty to one’s own family. Mohism also advocated meritocracy. How different would East Asian history have been had the Mohists prevailed over the Confucians, especially if Neo-Confucianism had never existed? Would there be no wangtta, nor Hell Joseon?
For a cinematic taste of Mohism in action, see the dandy 2006 Cantonese film A BATTLE OF WITS with Andy Lau as Mohist defensive strategist Ge Li and Super Junior’s Choi Si-won as Prince Liang Shi, along with fabulous martial arts master and actor Yu Chenghui.
The film prompted me to research Mohism, which led me to Robert Eno’s wonderful CHINATXT website at Indiana University in 2017. He retired in 2013, and generously left online his library of course materials developed for his students over 25 years. It moved to a new URL as of September 1, 2019. It is available free of charge, and is a tremendous gift of scholarship that sageuk nerds will want to explore. It includes early Chinese history, literature, and philosophy. Thank you, Professor Eno! Your grace is immeasurable!
https://chinatxt.sitehost.iu.edu/Resources.html
Here’s his complete listing of 81 documents available through Indiana University’s IU ScholarWorks portal:
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/browse?order=ASC&rpp=100&sort_by=1&value=Eno%2C+Robert&etal=-1&offset=0&type=author
Professor Eno’s treasure trove supplies a host of his own English translations of Chinese classical literature including Confucian works, The Book of Changes, the Daoist foundational text The Zhuangzi (produced by the master who wrote “The Butterfly Dream” referenced in ARANG AND THE MAGISTRATE, if I recall correctly), and other writings whose influence has cropped up in numerous Kdrama sageuks. His writing on Confucianism gave me a handle on the ways in which Neo-Confucianism differed from the original philosophy, which eventually led to much suffering in Joseon that continues to play out in 21st century ROK. I might add that I am a fan of Professor Eno’s dry wit. I love the tone of his writing.
@kiara, @wishfultoki, I would like to give a pointer to Professor Eno’s short article on Neo-Confucianism for future reference as MY COUNTRY unfolds:
https://chinatxt.sitehost.iu.edu/EAsia-survey/Neo-Confucianism_passages.pdf
Zhuangzi: The Inner Chapters
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/23427/Zhuangzi.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
Also:
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/23427
WishfulToki
October 24, 2019 at 1:54 PM
Manseh Pakalanapikake! Thank you for the links. 😀
I just had a quick look at Prof. Eno’s article on Neo-Confucianism. It was useful because I actually don’t know much about the tenets of Neo-Confucianism itself. It still confuses me because their ideas sound decent… but when applied in the real world they created a rigid hierarchical system and lots of suffering.
It’s funny how the Jurchens crop up literally EVERYWHERE we look, even the rise of Neo-Confucianism: “However, the intellectual and political confusion brought on by the loss of North China to Jurchen invaders in 1127 created an opportunity for the teachings of these men to come to the fore [and of] an exceptional scholar named Zhu Xi (1130-1200)” (p. 2)
PakalanaPikake
October 24, 2019 at 2:32 PM
You’re most welcome, @wishfultoki. I’m glad you found the links useful, and encourage you to explore Prof. Eno’s CHINATXT articles. I really enjoy his writing. I agree that the Jurchens/Manchus are an interesting lot, and have greatly influenced Northeast Asia over an extended period of time. The Khitans are also interesting for the same reason.
After reading some of his info on Confucianism, I could kind of understand how the flavor of Neo-Confucianism that developed in Korea differed from the original. That may have been when I was watching REBEL. I’m neither a philosopher nor a Sinologist, so my simplistic impression is that the reciprocity that was supposed to exist in the Confucian Five Relations was lost when the Korean Neo-Confucians began tweaking the formula to satisfy male yangban who did not play well with others. I was intrigued to read somewhere that in earlier times, Korean society was matrilocal, with men moving into the wife’s family home when they married. Neo-Confucianism put an end to that.
All of which makes me wonder whether Mohism would have prevented the stiflingly-immobile social hierarchy that is depicted with so many negative consequences in Kdramas in general, not just sageuks. It’s intriguing to speculate.
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 24, 2019 at 2:27 PM
“deploring the elaborate Confucian funeral rites and ceremonies as a waste of government funds which could be better spent on the welfare of the people”
LOL
PakalanaPikake
October 24, 2019 at 2:37 PM
@sicarius,
I got a bang out of that statement, too. The Mohists did have a point about fiscal responsibility. 😉
And it wasn’t just the elaborate rites and ceremonies. It was the years spent in mourning, too. How did anything ever get done?! 😉
💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
October 24, 2019 at 3:57 PM
I don’t believe they did Paka hahaha
Ahh I really must start My Country this weekend I think.
bbstl 🧹
October 24, 2019 at 8:05 PM
I always wonder that, how on earth was anything accomplished when entire families and courts ground to a halt for three years at a time?
mugyuljoie is preciousss
October 24, 2019 at 9:08 PM
I just started reading and I think I’m a convert.
PakalanaPikake
October 25, 2019 at 5:00 AM
Watch A WAR OF WITS, @ndlessjoie. It will really make you a convert. 🙂 And 19-year-old Siwon is easy on the eyes as the crown prince. Andy Lau is great fun to watch.
I’ve long had Taoist/Buddhist leanings, and Mohism is mighty appealing. I’m glad to know that there had been a school of thought in China that was opposed to aggression but knew how to put up their dukes in self-defense. More importantly, Mohists seem to have had an agape-like consideration for their fellow man that was unusual for the time in that part of the world. (Historians don’t call it the Warring States period for nothing.) But if you watch the movie, you’ll see that there was a down side to their philosophical concern for others.
mugyuljoie is preciousss
October 25, 2019 at 8:45 AM
Mohism sounds great on paper. I’ll add A War of Wits to my list.