Heaven As a Standard Nicolas Standaert* the Concept of Tian 天

Heaven as a Standard

Nicolas Standaert*

The concept of tian 天 (Heaven) is often considered to be one of the key concepts in Mozi’s thought. Seen from a diachronic perspective, however, there is a clear evolution in its use throughout the Mozi. For instance, while the concept is nearly absent in the oldest Triplets of the Core Chap- ters, in the youngest it is very often explicitly adopted in the argumenta- tion. It is as though Mozi adduces Heaven as the ultimate argument in defense of his core ideas. This is confirmed by chapters 26, 27, and 28, the “Tian zhi” 天志 (Will of Heaven) triplet, which we believe is among the youngest of the Triplets.1 Apparently the editors of the Mozi considered the theme of Heaven important enough to devote one triplet to it. That the “Tian zhi” triplet belongs to the youngest triplets can possibly be explained by the fact that the increasing criticism directed toward the Mohists boosted the need for an all-encompassing foundation, which they found in Heaven. In addition, in these Core Chapters, Heaven is increas- ingly considered a “standard” ( fa 法). As a result, Mozi appears to be the first ancient Chinese master to express in a more or less systematic way his vision of Heaven. At first sight, this vision is confirmed by the Opening Chapters, which are usually dated later than the Core Chapters. One of them, chapter 4, “Fa yi” 法儀 (Standards and Norms) is commonly presented as a “summary” of the “Tian zhi” chapters. In it, Heaven is closely linked with the idea of a “standard.” Which stage in Mohist thought does this chapter represent? What are the similarities and differences with the Core Chapters? What evolution is there in the relationship between the concepts of tian and fa? These are the questions that the present contribution will address. I shall

* I thank Carine Defoort for her comments on earlier drafts, and the participants at the conference “The Many Faces of Mozi: A Synchronic and Diachronic Study of Mohist Thought” held at the University of Leuven, 25–28 June 2009, especially Miranda Brown, for their valuable suggestions. 1 For the sequence of the Core Chapters, I follow Watanabe Takashi, “Bokushi shohen no chosaku nendai”; Desmet, “The Growth of Compounds in the Core Chapters of the Mozi”; and Desmet, “All Good Things Come in Threes.” In the case of the “Shang xian” 尚賢, “Shang tong” 尚同, and “Tian zhi” 天志 Triplets, the chronological order is shang 上, xia 下, zhong 中. My own structural and content analysis of the “Tian zhi” chapters corroborates their analyses. 238 nicolas standaert first discuss the notion of fa, then tian, and finally ‘Heaven as a standard.’ Before doing so, I shall present a translation of the “Fa yi” chapter.

The “Fa yi” Chapter

By way of introduction, a brief statistical analysis of the key terms in the Mozi is quite revealing. If one excludes not only the compound tianxia 天下 but also tianzi 天子, tiandi 天地, and tianrang 天壤 (the latter three each occur only occasionally), “Fa yi” is the only chapter of the Opening Chapters in which tian 天 occurs, twenty-two times in total (see table 1). This is a high number, far higher than in any of the Core Chapters except the “Tian zhi” triplet. Another character that appears often in “Fa yi” is fa 法: it appears twenty-eight times. This is by far the largest number of occurrences of fa in any of the Mozi chapters. The combination fa yi 法儀 appears only in the “Fa yi” chapter, twice at the beginning of the text (excluding the title). This occurrence at the beginning explains the title of the chapter. The combination yi fa 儀法 appears merely three times in one of the Core Chapters, namely in “Tian zhi, xia” (chapter 28).

Table 1. Frequency of the Terms Tian 天, Fa 法, and Ren 仁 in the Mozi ICS Chap. Title 天天子天地天命法仁 Chap. no. No. 1.1 1 親士 1 1.2 2 脩身 1.3 3 所染 1 1 2 1.4 4 法儀 22 1 28 9 1.5 5 七患 1 1 1 1.6 6 辭過 2 3 4 1.7 7 三辯 2.1 8 尚賢上 2.2 9 尚賢中 12 2 2 6 2.3 10 尚賢下 2 1 2 1 3.1 11 尚同上 5 10 3 3.2 12 尚同中 10[4] 19 4 1