Mozi · Philosophy

Frugality: The People’s Benefit as the Measure of Spending

Mozi’s doctrine of frugality: every expense - on goods, on funerals, on the great court music the Confucians cherished - must justify itself by one test alone, benefit to the common people; whatever only gratifies elites while draining the labour and wealth of the many is waste, however beautiful or venerable.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Mozi judged all expenditure - luxury, elaborate funerals, and even music - by a single standard, benefit to the common people; that he condemned costly funerals and court music as drains on the people’s wealth and labour; and that he granted music is pleasant while denying that pleasure justifie…

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