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Mohism -> Mozi -> Book 7 -> Will of Heaven II -> 9

墨子Therefore the will of Heaven is like the compasses to the wheelwright and the square to the carpenter.
天下 The wheelwright tests the circularity of every object in the world with his compasses,
saying:
"That which satisfies my compasses is circular.
That which does not is not circular."
Therefore whether an object is circular or not
is all known,
because the standard of circularity is all established.
天下 The carpenter also tests the squareness of every object in the world with his square,
saying:
"That which satisfies my square is square;
that which does not is not square."
Therefore whether any object is square or not is all known.
Why so?
Because the standard of squareness is established.
墨子天下王公大人天下Similarly, with the will of Heaven Mozi will measure the jurisdiction and government of the lords in the empire on the one hand, and the doctrines and teachings of the multitudes in the empire on the other.
If some conduct is observed
to be in accordance with the will of Heaven,
it is called good conduct;
if it is in opposition to the will of Heaven
it is called bad conduct.
If a teaching is observed
1
to be in accordance with the will of Heaven
it is called good teaching;
if it is in opposition to the will of Heaven
it is called bad teaching.
And if a government is observed
to be in accordance with the will of Heaven
it is called good government;
if it is in opposition to the will of Heaven
it is called bad government.
天下王公大人With this as the model and with this as the standard, whether the lords and the ministers are magnanimous or not can be measured as (easily as) to distinguish black and white.
墨子:「天下王公大人君子Therefore Mozi said: If the rulers and the gentlemen of the world really desire to follow the way and benefit the people they have only to obey the will of Heaven, the origin of magnanimity and righteousness.
Obedience to the will of Heaven is the standard of righteousness.

1. 之 : Inserted.


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