Three Textual Studies of the Mozi

This file contains preprints of three textual studies of the Mozi presented at conferences of the Warring States Working Group in the 1990s. They jointly indicate a clear pattern of chronological development in four of the Mohist “triads.”

The studies are:

  • “Thematic Relationships in the Mozi Political Essays.” Warring States Working Group 10 (1998).
  • “Doctrinal Developments in the Mozi Jian Ai Triad.” Warring States Working Group 9 (1997).
  • “Is Mozi 17 a Fragment of Mozi 26?” Warring States Working Group Query 95 (1997).

These studies, along with Taeko Brooks’s work and Durrant and Graham’s identification of three linguistically distinct series among the Mohist essays, provide the foundation for the sketch of the chronological development of the Mohist essays I give here.

These studies appear under slightly different titles as three separate articles in volume 1 of the journal Warring States Papers:

  • Is MZ 17 a Fragment of MZ 26? Warring States Papers I (2010): 122–125
  • Doctrinal Developments in MZ 14-16 Warring States Papers I (2010): 132–136
  • Thematic Relationships in MZ 8-10 and 11-13 Warring States Papers I (2010): 137–142

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