Mohism a school of classical Chinese thought founded by Mo Tzu (fl. 479–438 B.C.). Mo Tzu was the first major philosopher to challenge Confucius. Whereas Confucius believed a moral life was an end in itself, Mo Tzu advocated a form of utilitarianism wherein the test of moral rightness (yi) was the amount of benefit (li) to the gods, state, and people. Accordingly, Mo Tzu condemned war as harmful, criticized Confucians for their elaborate funerals and wasteful indulgence in music, and promoted a hierarchical meritocracy dominated by a powerful ruler as the most efficient way to unify the conflicting moral views and interests of the people, and thereby achieve social order. Mo Tzu also attacked fatalism, and unlike the agnostic Confucius, firmly believed in spirits and an anthropomorphic Heaven (t’ien) that rewarded those who benefited others and punished those who did not. He is most famous for his doctrine of chien ai or impartial concern (often translated as universal love). Whereas Confucius espoused a relational morality in which one’s obligations varied depending on the status of the parties and the degree of closeness, Mo Tzu insisted that each person be treated equally as an object of moral concern. During the Warring States period (403–221 . .), the Mohists split into three factions. The Later Mohist Canons, most of which were written as late as the third century B.C., are characterized by analytical reasoning and logical sophistication. Later Mohists sought to provide a rational rather than a religious basis for Mo Tzu’s utilitarianism based upon logical (and causal) necessity (pi). Treating a wide variety of subjects from politics to optics to economics, the Canons are organized around four topics: discourse, or knowledge of the relation between names and objects; ethics, or knowledge of how to act; sciences, or knowledge of objects; and argumentation, or knowledge of names. As Confucianism emerged to become the state ideology, the Mohists disappeared sometime in the early Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220), having been in important measure co-opted by the leading interpreter of Confucianism of the period, Hsün Tzu (c.298–238 B.C.). See also CONFUCIANISM , LI3, MO TZU, YI. R.P.P. & R.T.A.