Mo Di (墨翟) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Mo Di as an engineer, inventor, official, and philosopher. This record brings together 17 passages from 14 chapters across 8 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Mo Di	墨翟	Mo Di
Personal	Mo	墨	Mo
Alternate	Mo Di	墨翟	Mo Di
Personal name	Mo Di	墨翟	Mo Di
Personal	Mozi	墨子	Mozi
Personal name	Mozi
Personal name	Mozi	墨
Personal name	Mozi	墨子	Mòzǐ
Personal name	Mozi	墨子	Mozi
Title	Mozi	墨子
Personal	Mozi	墨	Mozi
Personal	Mozi	墨子
Personal	Mozi	墨翟	Mò Dí
Alternate name	Mozi		Mozi
Personal	Mozi	墨	Mo

Identity

Historicity: Uncertain
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · beiqishu:046:s0079, houhanshu:031:s0198, houhanshu:032:s0107, mingshi:298:s0095, shiji:083:s0233
Sex: male
Explicit · hanshu:098:s0241, houhanshu:034:s0060, jiuwudaishi:051:s0032, shiji:048:s0187, zhoushu:046:s0015
Value: male
Strongly inferred · shiji:074:s0093

Roles

Engineer
Inventor
Official
Philosopher
Scholar
Teacher
Writer

Life and dates

Attested activity

Qualitative: legendary antiquity
Explicit · beiqishu:046:s0079, jiuwudaishi:051:s0032
Source Date: Text: BC 470-391 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Strongly inferred · houhanshu:032:s0107
Source Date: Text: 先秦時期 · Western Year: c. BC 400
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:048:s0187
Source Date: Text: 孔墨荀孟 · Western Year: BC 470
Explicit · zhoushu:046:s0015
Source Date: Text: 戰國之世 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:031:s0198
Source Date: Text: 楊、墨、釋、老 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Explicit event contextual date · mingshi:298:s0095
Western Interval: Start: BC 480 · End: BC 400 · Source Date: Text: 蓋墨翟，宋之大夫，善守御，為節用。
Uncertain · shiji:074:s0093, shiji:074:s0094
Source Date: Text: 邑號朝歌而墨子回車 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Explicit · shiji:083:s0233
Source Date: Text: 墨 · Western Year: BC 400
Explicit · nanqishu:047:s0082
Source Date: Text: 墨子遑遑 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:034:s0060
Source Date: Text: 墨翟 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Explicit · hanshu:098:s0241, shiji:083:s0114, shiji:083:s0194

Career and standing

Label: grand master of Song / 宋之大夫
Explicit · shiji:074:s0093

Places and affiliations

Polity: Song / 宋 · Relation: served
Explicit · shiji:074:s0093
Place: Zhaoge / 朝歌 · Relation: turned-away-from
Explicit · shiji:083:s0233

Learning and skills

Belief: frugal use / 節用 · Relation: advocated
Explicit · shiji:074:s0093
Skill: defense and fortification / 守御
Explicit · shiji:074:s0093

Events and relationships

Kind: travel · Role: traveler · Action: turned-chariot-away · Place: Zhaoge / 朝歌 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 邑號朝歌而墨子回車 · Western Interval: Start: BC 470 · End: BC 391
Explicit · shiji:083:s0233

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: used as an exemplar of exceptional wisdom · Provenance: Mode: quoted-source-judgment · Source Person Id: Jia Yi (賈誼)
Explicit · shiji:048:s0187

Source notes

Field: chronology-vs-Confucius · Statement: Some say contemporary with Confucius; some say after · Other Person Id: Confucius (孔子) · Provenance: Mode: named-source-report
Explicit · shiji:074:s0094
Historicity: historical
Explicit · shiji:083:s0233

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 46Volume 46 Biographies 38: Good Officials · 1 passage

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削木剪紙，皆無故事，班、墨之思，何以相過。」 Carving wood and cutting paper has no precedent—how could Ban and Mo's inventiveness be surpassed?"

Book of Han, Chapter 74Volume 64a: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 1 · 1 passage

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陳涉無千乘之尊、疆土之地，身非王公大人名族之後，無鄉曲之譽，非有孔、曾、墨子之賢，陶朱、猗頓之富也。 Chen She owned no kingdom, no famous name, no village cheering him on—he was no sage and no millionaire.

Book of Han, Chapter 98Volume 87a: Yang Xiong 1 · 1 passage

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群公常伯楊硃、墨翟之徒喟然稱曰：「崇哉乎德，雖有唐、虞、大廈、成周之隆，何以侈茲！ The assembled lords and ministers, Yang Zhu, Mozi, and their like, sighed and said, "How lofty is this virtue! Though Yao and Shun had their glory, and though the Great Hall of Xia and flourishing Zhou rose so high, how could they surpass this!

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 1 passage

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夫德不得後身而特盛，功不得背時而獨章，是以聖喆之治，棲棲皇皇，孔席不煗，墨突不黔。 Virtue cannot peak if you put yourself last, nor can merit blaze if you ignore the hour; hence true sages never rest—Confucius' mat stayed cool, Mozi's hearth stayed clean.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 1 passage

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兵威屈辱，國權日損，三王背畔，赤眉害主，未見兼行倍道之赴，若墨翟累繭救宋，申包胥重胝存楚，衛女馳歸唁兄之志。 Arms were shamed, the throne's power ebbed, princes turned traitor, the sovereign fell to the Red Eyebrows—yet I saw no Mo Di racing to save Song, no Shen Baoxu weeping Chu home, no sister of Wei galloping to her brother's grave.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 32Volume 28b: Biography of Feng Yan · 1 passage

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楊朱號乎衢路兮，墨子泣乎白絲； Yang Zhu cried out at the crossroads; Mozi wept for silk turned from white;

Book of Later Han, Chapter 34Volume 30a: Biographies of Su Jing; Yang Hou · 1 passage

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仲尼棲棲，墨子遑遑，憂人之甚也。 Confucius hurried from court to court; Mozi rushed about—they cared for humanity that intensely.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 51Volume 51 Book of Later Tang 27: Biographies 3: Imperial Family · 1 passage

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楊千郎者，魏州賤民，自言得墨子術於婦翁，能役使陰物，帽下召食物果實之類。 Yang Qianlang was a common man of Weizhou who claimed to have learned Mozi's techniques from his father-in-law and could command spirits of the yin realm: food, fruit, and other provisions would appear from under his cap.

History of Ming, Chapter 298Volume 298 Biographies 186: Recluses · 1 passage

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嘗言：「楊、墨、釋、老，聖道之賊，管、商、申、韓，治道之賊，稗官野乘，正史之賊，支詞艷說，文章之賊。 He once said: "Yang Zhu, Mozi, Buddhism, and Daoism are enemies of the sage's Way; Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, and Han Fei are enemies of good governance; unofficial histories and wild records are enemies of orthodox history; florid and seductive writings are enemies of true literature.

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 47Volume 47 Biographies 28: Wang Rong, Xie Tiao · 1 passage

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竊習戰陣攻守之術，農桑牧藝之書，申、商、韓、墨之權，伊、周、孔、孟之道。 I have studied the arts of attack and defense, books of farming and herding, the strategems of Shen Buhai, Shang Yang, Han Fei, and Mozi, and the Ways of Yi Yin, the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, and Mencius.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 48House of Chen She · 1 passage

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材能不及中人，非有仲尼、墨翟之賢，陶朱、猗頓之富也。 His talents did not surpass those of an ordinary man. He possessed neither the wisdom of Confucius or Mozi, nor the wealth of Tao Zhu or Yi Dun.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 74Biographies of Mengzi and Xun Qing · 1 passage

Open chapter

蓋墨翟，宋之大夫，善守御，為節用。 As for Mo Di, he was a grand master of Song, skilled in defense and fortification, and he advocated frugal use.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 83Biographies of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang · 4 passages

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今公又以敝聊之民距全齊之兵，是墨翟之守也。 Now you seek to resist the full might of Qi with the exhausted people of Liaocheng—your defense rivals that of Mozi himself.

昔者魯聽季孫之說而逐孔子，宋信子罕之計而囚墨翟。 In former times, Lu heeded the words of the Jisun clan and drove out Confucius; Song trusted the schemes of Zi Han and imprisoned Mozi.

夫以孔、墨之辯，不能自免於讒諛，而二國以危。 Even with the eloquence of Confucius and Mozi, they could not save themselves from slander and flattery, and both states were brought to the brink of ruin.

臣聞盛飾入朝者不以利汙義，砥厲名號者不以欲傷行，故縣名勝母而曾子不入，邑號朝歌而墨子回車。 Your servant has heard that those who enter court in splendid attire do not let profit stain their righteousness, and those who sharpen their reputations do not let desire corrupt their conduct. This is why Zengzi refused to enter a county called Shengmu, and Mozi turned his chariot away from a town named Zhaoge.

Book of Zhou, Chapter 46Volume 46 Biographies 38: Filial Piety · 1 passage

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孔墨荀孟稟聖賢之資，弘正道以勵其俗。 while Confucius, Mozi, Xunzi, and Mencius bore the endowment of sages and spread the true Way to stir their contemporaries.