Compass and square

Introduction

The three chapters on 天志 are the part of the Mozi most likely to make a modern reader stop. The title literally means "the will of Heaven," and it sounds religious. Finish this chapter before judging. What Mozi does here is almost the opposite of religion.

天志上 opens with an observation. Offend the head of your household and you can flee to the neighbors; offend the ruler of your state and you can flee to another state. But if you offend Heaven, where can you go? "There is nowhere to escape." Yet the gentlemen of the world are careful with heads of households and rulers and careless with Heaven. That, Mozi says, is "not knowing categories."

Then the key. What does Heaven want? "Heaven desires righteousness and hates unrighteousness." How do we know? The third test again: "Where there is righteousness the world lives; without it, it dies. With righteousness it is rich; without, poor. With righteousness there is order; without, disorder." Heaven wants people to live, prosper and have order, so Heaven wants righteousness.

Where does righteousness come from? "Righteousness does not come from the foolish and lowly; it must come from the noble and wise." Who is noblest and wisest? Heaven. So the source of righteousness is not the Son of Heaven but Heaven, and the Son of Heaven too must align upward with Heaven. This picks up the last rung from week 11 and 尚同上.

Then the chapter's most famous image: "I have the will of Heaven the way a wheelwright has a compass and a carpenter a square. The wheelwright and carpenter take their compass and square and measure the round and square of the world, saying: what fits is right; what does not fit is wrong."

Consider what the image means. A compass is not the craftsman's opinion; it is a standard independent of the craftsman. However famous the wheelwright, a circle that does not fit the compass is not round. However exalted the ruler, an act that does not fit the will of Heaven is not right. In Mozi, the function of 天志 is to be a ruler for measuring rulers.

In the Community we read 天志 as "an objective standard above any person." We ask no one to believe that Heaven has a will. We ask this: acknowledge that there is a standard, and that even the 鉅子 (Juzi, the Community's head) is measured by it. That standard is written in 墨者之法, can be amended by the assembly, and cannot be bypassed by any individual.

The chapter's last section joins 天志 to impartial care: Heaven "possesses all impartially and feeds all impartially." Heaven treats everyone alike, so Heaven wants people to care for one another. The will of Heaven is the reason for impartial care.

The three tests

This chapter rests most on the third test, application: "with righteousness there is order; without it, disorder." That Heaven wants righteousness is inferred from righteousness being beneficial.

The first test appears in the accounts of the sage kings, but weakly. The second is nearly absent: no one has "seen" Heaven's will. That is the weakest point of the argument, and the discussion should face it honestly.

Ask: if you remove "Heaven" and keep only "an objective standard above the ruler," does the argument still hold? That is the Community's position.

For families

• Show a child a ruler and a compass: who decides whether a circle is round, the person drawing or the compass?
• Ask: is there a house rule the parents must follow too? What happens if the parents break it?
• Tell "where can you flee from Heaven?" in today's terms: some things, once done, have consequences you cannot escape even if no one saw.

For chapters

• Reading: the passage "I have the will of Heaven the way a wheelwright has a compass," and the passage "Heaven desires righteousness and hates unrighteousness."
• Debate: focus on a standard that even the person in charge must obey. The chapter lead goes first with an example of being "measured" by 墨者之法.
• Three-tests review: honestly record the missing second test: no one has seen the will of Heaven. Does that gap affect the Community's reading of it as an "objective standard"? Continue in week 20.