The existence of ghosts and spiritual beings, as we already saw, is part and parcel to the religious humanism of Moh-zi.

However, some of his contemporaries were already beginning to question this metaphysical aspect of his philosophy. As it is pointed out in the Book of Moh-zi, non-believers today have said that there are neither ghosts nor spiritual beings. ( Ibid.) It is therefore not surprising to find that Moh-zi had to try and show that there are indeed ghosts and spiritual beings. =============================================

Moh-zi on Ghosts and Spiritual Beings

An excerpt from The Six Patriarchs of Chinese Humanism Author: Peter M.K. Chan
All rights reserved

============================================ According to Moh-zi, ghosts are nothing other than what have been referred to since ancient times as heavenly ghosts or spiritual beings of mountains and rivers as well as the ones that come from dead human beings. ( Ibid.) However, due to the fact that those who have confused the people regarding the existence and non-existence of ghosts and spiritual beings are bringing disorder to the world, ( Ibid.) it is incumbent upon government officials, intellectuals, and kingly persons who are concerned about enhancing benefits and doing away with harm in the world today to make manifest as to whether or not ghosts and spiritual beings exist. (
Ibid.)

The question is how could this really be done. Well, said Moh-zi, whether or not ghosts and spiritual beings exist could in fact be arbitrated on the basis of public

empirical experience. ( Ibid.) Those who have heard about or seen them are bound to attest that they exist, and those who have not heard or seen them are bound to say that they do not. So, why not go to every town and village to investigate? ( Ibid.) If it is found that some in the past as well as present have indeed seen ghosts and spiritual beings or heard of their voices, it would have shown that they exist. Otherwise, the opposite conclusion would have to be drawn. (
Ibid.)

However, going out to investigate was not what Moh-zi did. Instead, the evidence to which he alluded were mostly reports of ghost encounters that some ancient historical annals had seen fit to record. As the stories that Moh-zi called into service are quite interesting, I should like to append them below for the readers enjoyment.
When King Ye of Zhou was about to put Do-pa to death, Do-pa said: It is unfortunate that my king has to put me to death. If the dead were indeed unconscious, I shall have nothing to say. However, should the dead be conscious, I will return in three years and let you know. At the end of three years, King Ye of Zhou went hunting in the fields with his feudal lords. The fields were crowded with hundreds of coaches and thousands of people. At mid-day. Du-pa was seen wearing red with red bow and arrow in hand, and riding in on a plain coach drawn by a white horse. He chased after King Ye of Zhou, shot him though the heart with the arrow, which cracked his spine as well. Thereupon, the King fell and died right there in his coach. All his followers from the state of Zhou saw it. Those who were far away heard about it. This is recorded in the Spring-Autumn Annals of Zhou. (
Ibid.)

Chuan tze-ye said to the King of Yen: It is unfortunate that my king has to put me to death. If the dead were indeed unconscious, I shall have nothing to say. However, should the dead be conscious, I will return in three years to let you know. About three years later, when the king was on his way to the grave of his ancestors, Chuan tze-ye was seen with a purple red staff in hand and struck the King of Yin. Thereupon, the King of Yin died right inside his coach. All his followers saw it. Those who were far away heard it. This is recorded in the Spring-Autumn Annals of Yin. (
.... Ibid.)

Thus, according to Moh-zi, since there were such sightings recorded in the books of history, how can anybody doubt that ghosts and spiritual beings do indeed exist? ( Ibid.) If they do not exist, why should corrupt officials, promiscuous persons, rapists, rioters, robbers, and the like have all run into ghosts and spiritual being? (
Ibid.) And that is not all the evidence

available either. When the former duke Cheng-mou was in the temple during mid-day, he saw a spiritual being entered the door on his left. It had the body of a bird with a square face and dressed in white funeral attires. (
Ibid.)

Now, said Moh-zi, some may still think that the above accounts are not credible enough to warrant belief. If so, why should the historical records of Xia, Shun, and Zhou (the three ancient dynasties) repeatedly say that ghosts and spiritual beings exist? ( Ibid.) Are the three generations of sagekings, Yao, Shun, and Yu, together with Tong, Wen, and Wu not worthy of emulation? ( Ibid.) They all held that ghosts and spiritual beings

exist. If there were really no ghosts and spiritual beings, why should they made offerings to them? (.... Ibid.) And why would these ancient sagekings also made offerings to their ancestors? (
...Ibid.)

For what Moh-zi had come to see, it must have been for their belief that ghosts and spiritual beings exist, and for their fear that those who came after may fail to know about this fact, that the ancient sage-kings had to record what they believed to be true on bamboo and cloth. ([]
Ibid.) It was also for their fear that these materials might

disintegrate or destroyed by worms and insects that such records were (eventually) edged onto plates of gold and stone. So, why should the sage-kings taken their trouble to do all these? (
......Ibid.)

Further, said Moh-zi, what support a doctrine are its foundation, its empirical basis, and its application. It should be founded on the affairs of the ancient sage-kings. It should be based on what people have actually come to hear and see. It should be applied by putting it into administrative practice and see if it could really bring benefit to the state and its people. These are known as the three criteria (of testing a doctrine).
(: Ibid. Chapter 35)

The conclusion that Moh-zi came to is therefore this. For what the sage-kings had done and from what can be found in the historical records, how can anyone doubt that ghosts and spiritual beings do in fact exist? ( Ibid.) It is also to be reminded that all those who are not respectful and conscientious in their worship and offerings will only invoke punishment from ghosts and spiritual beings. ( Ibid.)

Comment: As readers can see, what Moh-zi had put forward are three familiar types of arguments: namely, argument from ancient records and hearsay (or what was reported to be the case), argument from ancient authority (the belief of sage-kings as recorded), and argument from subjective paranormal experiences. The trouble is that anyone familiar with dialectics would have already recognized them for what they are: weak and inconclusive arguments. No one in his right mind would have jumped to the conclusion that what the ancients had seen fit to believe and record, or what some people claimed to have seen and heard, must therefore be accepted as true. But then, it must also be said that at a time when belief in the retributive justice of Heaven and the existence of spiritual beings as well as ghosts was influential, these arguments must have been found by many to be convincing.

One interesting question is therefore this. Was Moh-zi really an honest-to-heaven religious thinker? Or was he trying to concoct religious sanction so as to make doubly sure that the negative aspects of human nature could more easily be kept in check? If the former, he would have to be looked upon as a Chinese prophet of sorts, not unlike those who had once spoken in other ancient religious cultures. If the latter, he would have to be seen as puffing a kind of religious opiate in the hope that not only the people, but also rulers themselves (kings and officials) would inhale as well. Well, all I can say is that Moh-zi was perhaps right about one thing. Any society that does not have at least one utilitarian religion is perhaps too secular for its own comfort. There are limits to what moral and legal sanctions are able to accomplish. This, I presume, is what he meant by saying that belief in the existence of ghosts should be applied by putting it into administrative practice and see if it could really bring benefit to the state and its people. (
Ibid. Chapter 35) =============================================================

Peter M.K. Chan is the author of The Mystery of Mind (published 2003), and Soul, God, and Morality (published 2004). Recently, he has also competed any work titled The Six Patriarchs of Chinese

Humanism (copyrighted and available in ebooks, but not yet in print). For details regarding the above, please visit http://sites.google.com/site/pmkchan/home http://sites.google.com/site/patriarchsofchinesephilosophy/home http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/petermkchan
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