In contrast Mozi argued that people should always care for others equally.
Linking the thoughts of different philosophers
The ancient Chinese sacrificial practice was very common whereby the historical dynasties had carried out human sacrifices quite extensively. However there was the disappearance of this ritual during the periods of spring and autumn as well as the warring periods. Though it was practiced privately this ritual of sacrificing humans was replaced at the state level by clay puppets. The reason why this ritual was discontinued was not known. All these philosophers ignored the blood letting ritual but instead put emphasis on ritual morality to form the foundation of ritual state. Xunzi came up with a funeral ritual which was an ancestral right which required blood sacrifice in the ancient time. This according to him was to form the basis for good citizenship and morality when it came to rituals (Plutschow, 2002).
All the philosophers debated on the shift from a sacrificial towards a moral ritual. Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Han Feizi were all against the human sacrifice ritual. However though they all shared the same thoughts they deviated from each other when it came to the opinions of the principles that governed statehood and good citizenship. Another reason for the deviation was due to the fact that these philosophers had come to a realization of the moral potential that is created in humans through rituals. This include respect, reverence, frugality, loyalty, love without mentioning the potential that rituals have when it comes to the debates on political and...
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