Fēi Rú 非儒

‘Rejecting the Rú’: a pair of chapters of the Mòzǐ, or perhaps a triad, of which only the final part survives. Rather than presenting a single doctrinal argument, the chapters bring together a range of earlier Mohist criticisms of the rú tradition, including objections to fatalism, elaborate ritual, music, and appeals to antiquity. Particularly striking is the claim that neither age nor tradition is sufficient to justify a practice. However the Fēi Rú chapter is assessed as polemic, it retains value as an example of Mohist criticism of authority, custom, and inherited belief.