Heaven’s Whim versus Heaven’s Will

Abstract In the face of the partition of Jin, social and political affairs in the Zhou realm became progressively more violent and chaotic. An example can be seen in the strategies of Zhao Wuxu, first head of the effectively sovereign Zhao state. He ambushed and murdered the King of Dai, his brother-in-law, at a drinking party, and used the opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Dai. In the wake of such activities the Zhao state promulgated accounts of prophetic visions and encounters with the spirit world that Zhao rulers had experienced, in which they received messages from the gods endorsing their brutal tactics. In reaction to this elitist theology and the political behavior it rationalized, a new Master arose name Mo Di. Mo Di followed in the footsteps of Confucius but taught a new doctrine that contradicted many of Confucius’s most fundamental precepts. Master Mo proposed that a sentient and powerful Heaven would enforce its Will on humankind. Heaven’s Will was that human beings should materially care for one-another impartially and with an eye toward providing as much food, clothing, and shelter for as many people as possible. Mo Di thus contradicted Confucius by declaring that music must be outlawed. He also insisted that Heaven desired a ban on the kind of offensive warfare practiced by Zhao Wuxu and other Zhou nobles.