The Mozi: A Complete Translation (Translations from the Asian Classics)

This is a very large, fantastic volume. Chinese is on the left, with english on the right, with numerous footnotes on translation issues and a very professional 32 page introduction by the translator -- invaluable to readers unfamiliar with the historical context. Clocking in at 944 pages, it's a good three inches thick.As for the content, I find it remarkable. Mozi could and should be an excellent source of ethical illustrations for the sermon- or speech-writer.I'm a sucker for ethics that appeals to "universal love" and moderation as a means to free up resources to help others. More than that, though, a great portion of Mo Zi's aphorisms give powerful arguments to support his point, rather than just authoritative declarations "from nowhere" (as found in much ancient philosophy). The genre doesn't match Plato or Aristotle -- don't expect that kind of detailed rationalism -- but you might think of Mo Zi's style as an intermediate between Socrates and Confucius.To reproduce a remark by Hansen, quoted in the introduction:"[Mo Zi] is *the most important* philosopher in the early half of the classical period. Analysing his thought carefully gives us a more accurate view of the direction of philosophical thought in China... Writing argumentative essays and engaging in philosophical reflection boht start with Mo Zi. He distinguishes between traditional mores and morality proper. He formulates a unique version of utilitarianism and argues for that theory and for an explicit political theory. He offers an interesting version of a state of nature justification for social organization. He works out a coherent pragmatic epistemology and both an operational and historical theory of language. *And* he gives arguments!"

Splendid translation given with the original Chinese text. That translation is very useful for all those who ahve to deal with a thinker much less reknown than Confucius or Mencius. Mozi ws even an opponent to the confucian school. he is very interesting in this. i recommend this book without any restriction.

I can just see the early European explorers, philologists, dictionary writers, and Christian translators pouring over this text which recalls the immortal bible words, "love your neighbor as your self"!

I give this book 3/5 stars for the translation and 4.5/5 stars for the scholarship behind it.Translation: The translation is not wrong in many places, but it is somewhat awkwardly done. Often the translation tries to be extremely literal in rendering the Chinese, so Dr. Johnston writes "wan" as "the ten thousand" (as in "the king cares for the ten thousand people") whereas a more proper translation would be "thousands of people." In other places, however, Johnston opts for interpretive translations of phrases, when a literal rendering would be perfectly fine. Overall, the translation is decent, understandable, and well annotated; but it is hard to escape the awkward language. It has been said that to be a translator, one must be an author - i.e. you really have to be able to add a bit of style to make a good translation. This translation, however, noticeably lacks style.Scholarship: The text is annotated wonderfully, with notes to the differences between various Chinese versions of the received text. I had a few quibbles with Dr. Johnston's interpretation of the Mozi, but nothing worth mentioning here. The thorough research Johnston has done to produce this volume make it an indispensable source for me.

I am not really a big fan of Mozi as a philosopher, but I cannot deny that this translation presents a level of accuracy, scholarship, and typographic beauty that sets a very high standard for future translations of Chinese classics. This book provides such a close reading that one will inevitably refer to it for any Mozi-related questions, instead of looking at any other stray scholarly literature. Would that translators of the Tao Te Ching put this amount of care and thought into their translations.

The price of the item seems a bit steep, however considering this is the translation of Mo Tzu (Mozi) a lost philosophy that rivaled Confucius and Taoism, one does expect to pay a lot. Also it is a very big book too. I gave this item 5/5 as it is a literal translation and it does give you great insight to the thoughts and beliefs of a great man in chinese history. Also because I am a massive Chinese history and culture geek.

Excellent edition of a Chinese classic