mohism

At least one school of thought, Mohism, was eradicated, though the reason is not known.

As Mohism is against Confucianism, the text "Mozi" was neglected.

The largest philosophical rivals to Confucianism were Legalism and Mohism before the Han dynasty.

Mohism promotes a philosophy of impartial caring; that is, a person should care equally for all other individuals, regardless of their actual relationship to him or her.

During that time, Mohism (墨 Mo) was seen as a major rival to Confucianism (儒 Ru).

Mohism might be argued to have elements of meritocracy: Mozi contended that rulers should appoint officials by virtue of their ability instead of their family connections.

While Mohism itself was eventually suppressed and the school of thought essentially disappeared, the Mohist concept of fa proved influential in other schools of Chinese thought.

Despite the Qin's state ideology and Mohism being similar in certain regards, it is possible that Mohists were sought and killed by the state's armies due to paramilitary activities.

Divisions in early Mohism reflected in the core chapters of Mo-tzu (Singapore: Institute of East Asian Philosophies, 1985)

Confucianism emerged to dominate other schools that were growing in the fertile social upheavals of pre-imperial China Daoism (Taoism), Mohism, and Legalism all attacked Confucianism.

Mohism stressed that rather than adopting different attitudes towards different people, love should be unconditional and offered to everyone without regard to reciprocation, not just to friends, family and other Confucian relations.

Of the many schools founded at this time and during the subsequent Warring States Period, the four most influential ones were Confucianism, Daoism (often spelled "Taoism"), Mohism and Legalism.

Still, variants such as Mohism approached high monotheism, teaching that the function of lesser gods and ancestral spirits is merely to carry out the will of Shangdi, akin to angels in Western civilization.

Some ancient schools have merged into traditions with different names or are no longer active, such as Mohism (and many others of the Hundred Schools of Thought), while some such as Taoism persist to the modern day.

In this context, it is more readily construed as meaning "school of thought", since it is also used to construct the names of philosophical schools contemporary with Confucianism: for example, the Chinese names for Legalism and Mohism end in jiā.

The Confucian philosopher Mencius depicts Yangism as the direct opposite of Mohism, while Mohism promotes the idea of universal love and impartial caring, the Yangists acted only "for themselves", rejecting the altruism of Mohism.