An Exceptional Portrait of Yang Zhu and Mozi: Beyond the Mencian Track

This paper examines the coupling in early texts of two masters, Yang Zhu 楊朱 and Mo Di 墨翟. The two thinkers are most famously paired in the Mencius as the prominent preachers of extreme doctrines, while they are also sometimes presented in other early texts such as the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi as useless debaters on trivial topics. These alternative portrayals of Yang-Mo are usually simplified as a second-rate imitation or repetition of the standard Mencian depiction. The paper argues that such a reading represents a serious misunderstanding of the pre-imperial textual transmission. Unfamiliarity with Yang-Mo as sophists may also be the result of the unconscious acceptance of Mencius’ description. The unconventional portrayal of Yang-Mo, very likely relatively unrelated to Mencius’ portrayal, had its own history in early China. Presented in various contexts, this alternative Yang-Mo image was once circulated in various forms for different intended audiences.

of Yang-Mo can be broadly divided into three trends. Firstly, there has been increasing scepticism about the reliability of Mencius' portrayal. In line with Hu Hong's 胡宏 (1105-1161 distrust, modern scholars such as Tang Yue 唐鉞 and Qian Mu 錢穆 suggested that the conflation of Yang and Mo in history was largely a result of Mencius' rhetorical invention, rather than a genuinely equal status of Yang and Mo in popularity during Mencius' time (Tang 1982 vol. 4, 540-53;Qian 1994, vol. 5, 285-87). 5 Besides this claimed popularity, Mencius' attribution of the two extreme doctrines to the two masters was also questioned (Defoort 2018). Studies in the second trend have more historical interest in the portrayal's influences. Scholars have traced the use of the term "Yang-Mo", throughout Chinese history, as a symbol of extremism and heresy (Lyell 1962;Andreini 2014) or as a rhetorical trope used against intellectual rivals (Defoort 2020). The third trend focuses on the reconstruction of Yang-Mo's philosophical positions (Shi 2004;Zhang 2014;He 2015, 2-13) and the implications of Mencius' accusations (Li 2009;Yang 2014;Shi 2015). 6 This paper offers a different contribution 5 Back in the Song dynasty, the Confucian scholar Hu Hong 胡宏 (1105-1161) already expressed his doubt about Mencius' depiction of Yang-Mo. (Hu 1987, 281-82) In the 1930s, Mencius' portrayal's authenticity was intensely questioned in the "Doubting the Antiquity" (yigu 疑古) movement by several articles published in the magazine "Gushi Bian 古史辨" (Debates on Ancient History), esp. vol.4 (first published in 1933). Kwong-loi Shun also points out that "there is little evidence that Yangist teachings were influential during Mencius' time, and this has led some scholars to suggest that Mencius exaggerated the movement's influence" (Shun 2000, 36). Regarding the current studies on the uses of "Ru-Mo" in early China, see Nylan 2009;Harbsmeier 2013;and Lee 2014. 6 There has been an abundant discussion about the reconstruction of Yang Zhu's philosophical position. Most scholars believe that the teachings of Yang Zhu must have been quite influential during Mencius' time; otherwise, Mencius would not have warned his readers so forcefully of the threat of Yang Zhu's thought. To fill the gap in ancient intellectual history, on the one hand, modern scholars associate Yang Zhu with more ascertained traditions such as Daoism (along with Laozi and Zhuangzi) and the reclusive hermits who "escape from the world" (bi shi 辟世). For example , Feng Youlan 馮友蘭 (1895-1990 and A. C. Graham consider the fragments from the Lunyu (14.37; 14.38; 14.39; 18.6; 18.7; 18.8) as resources to understand the root of Yangist thought. On the other hand, as Feng Youlan puts it, modern scholars tend to consider the thought of Yang Zhu "must be deduced from scattered references in a number of works by other writers" (see Feng 1948, 60-65). A. C. Graham considers that there are several chapters containing Yang Zhu's thought without mentioning his name, such as the five chapters from the Lushi Chunqiu 呂氏春秋 (namely, "Taking Life as Basic" 本生, "Valuing the Self " 重己, "Honoring Life" 貴生, "The Essential Desires" 情欲, and "Being Attentive to Aims" 審為) and the four chapters from the Zhuangzi (namely, "Abdicating the Throne" 讓王, "Robber Zhi" 盜跖, "Discourse on Swords" 說劍, and "The Old Fisherman" 漁父) (see Graham 1989, 53-56). Since Zhuangzi chapter 8 mentions the "disputation" (bian 辯) of Yang and Mo, Graham regarded these "Yangist" chapters from the Zhuangzi and Lushi Chunqiu as examples of the very disputation of Yang, whose style differs from that of the Mohist disputation (see Graham 1989, 55-56;2001[1981 to this topic, in which the non-Mencian portrayals of Yang-Mo rather than Mencius' is brought to the fore. This alternative focus enables us to reconsider how textual culture was actively involved in the formation of the Yang-Mo combination in early texts. The paper argues that the coupling of Yang Zhu and Mozi in some early texts is better seen as a product of dynamic development in a highly open and fluid textual culture rather than, as is usually assumed, the imitation or repetition of a stable Mencian depiction of Yang-Mo. The Mencius is not the only early text that combines Yang and Mo. 7 Several pre-modern scholars have already noticed that Yang Zhu and Mozi are also paired in the Zhuangzi, but most of their interest was still on Mencius' claims against the two heretical figures. 8 Modern views of the Yang-Mo combination have also been largely shaped by the Mencius. Even those who find fault with Mencius' view are still substantially indebted to or framed by his depiction. They might reject the informational, descriptive, evaluative, or interpretive stance of Mencius' portrayal-the proclaimed popularity of Yang-Mo, the mottos ascribed to them, and Mencius' interpretation and disapproval of these-but yet accept some aspects of it, such as its originality, the pairing of Yang-Mo, the opposition between them, and even their existence. Furthermore, Mencius' portrayal generally enjoys a special status as the prime (or even the sole) source of information about the coupling of Yang-Mo in early China. Almost all studies of the Yang-Mo coupling frame their investigation in terms of this privileged portrayal. When they sometimes take into account of other descriptions of Yang-Mo, such as those in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi, their primary purpose is generally to fit these "minor" descriptions into the frame of Mencius' portrayal. 9 Setting aside the preoccupation with the Mencius, we will be more aware of other alternative early descriptions in which the non-Mencian elements figure prominently, such as the theme of fruitlessness (wuyong 無用) and the combination of Yang-Mo and Zeng-Shi (Zeng Shi 曾史 or Zeng Shen Shi Qiu 曾參史鰌).  (Ling 1998, 885). In the Yuan dynasty, Jin Luxiang 金履祥 (1232-1303) in his commentary on Zhu Xi's Mengzi ji zhu 孟子集注 also noted that "the text Zhuangzi as well often speaks of the disputation of Yang and Mo (莊子書亦盛言楊墨之辨)" ( Jing 1991, 31 It is not surprising that Yang Zhu and Mozi could be portrayed in a wide variety of ways. The intended audience of the Yang-Mo portrayals may have deeply influenced how the two masters were presented, as these images vary from the radical preachers of the immoral doctrines "acting for oneself " and "caring equally for all" that threatened the very core of Confucian values, to the prominent debaters on unprofitable topics such as the "hard and white" (jianbai 堅白) and the "same and different" (tongyi 同異). This paper suggests that the inconsistencies in the early portraits of Yang-Mo are not a matter of accuracy but rhetoric. The disparate descriptions of Yang-Mo are more likely meant as literary or rhetorical devices that produce different impacts on different audiences. The variance of portrayals may also, to some extent, reveal the bias of the authors. Instead of considering the non-Mencian depictions of Yang-Mo as inaccurate or the second-rate repetition of Mencius' portrayal, this paper perceives all early portrayals of Yang-Mo equally as to some extent rhetorical. This allows us to problematize the privileging of Mencius' portrayal over the other, and revalue the underappreciated non-Mencian portrayal of Yang-Mo in early texts. This portrayal can still be traced on the basis of the coherent descriptions from Zhuangzi chapter 8 ("Webbed Toes" 駢 拇), chapter 10 ("Ransacking Coffers" 胠篋), chapter 12 ("Heaven and Earth" 天 地), and Han Feizi chapter 47 ("Eight Persuasions" 八說). 10 To fully explore this undervalued portrayal of Yang-Mo, the paper, in its first two sections, provides a detailed reading of the passages where Yang and Mo are presented as useless sophists and contrasted with virtuous practitioners and then, in the third section, a discussion of the textual relations between these Yang-Mo passages and those in the Mencius is presented, in which their textual statuses are reconsidered in light of recent studies and with reference to the concept of open versus closed texts.

The Portrait of Yang-Mo as Disputers of Useless Words
The early portrayal based on the descriptions in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi (henceforth the Zhuangzian-Hanfeizian portrayal) is first marked by its distinctive emphasis on the futility and unprofitability of the disputation of Yang-Mo. 10 The term "Yang-Mo" appears thrice in the Zhuangzi (8/22/3-19; 10/25/12-20; 12/34/3-9). "Yang" is also mentioned together with four other debating rivals in the "Xu Wugui" 徐無鬼chapter ( In Zhuangzi chapter 8, the images of having "webbed toes" (pianmu 駢姆) and "extra fingers" (zhizhi 枝指) are used as metaphors for the fanatical obsession with artificial standards and skills which corrupt people's "inborn nature" (xing 性). 11 Prominent figures in different fields are chosen as illustrations: Li Zhu 離朱 is obsessed with his examination and classification of colours and patterns, Music Master Kuang 師曠 with that of sounds, and Zeng-Shi with morality. Having "webbed toes" in their obsession with useless "disputation" (bian 辯), the likes of Yang and Mo also lose their inborn nature: Are those who have webbed toes in their disputation not artfully manoeuvring the phrases as if stacking balls on top of each other or tying knots, sending their minds wandering amid the "hard and white" and the "same and different", and arduously praising those useless words? Yang Zhu and Mozi are here depicted as manipulating words like stacking balls and tying knots, which display a marvellous but useless skill. Instead of being the advocates of the subversive ideas of "acting for oneself " and "caring equally for all", they are portrayed as thinkers disputing over issues such as the "hard and white" and the "same and different".
A cautious distrust of this description may arise out of the traditional attribution of these two issues to other figures. 13 For example , Qian Mu (1895-1990, who perceives the coupling of Yang-Mo as a result of exaggeration, argues that Yang-Mo in this Zhuangzi description should be rendered as a "false" combination that 11 For a detailed discussion of the themes of artificial standards and inborn nature, see Baggio 2014. 12 Except for the texts where passages are more conveniently signified by a number and a letter, such as the Mencius, all my references to primary sources would be from D. C. Lau ICS Ancient Chinese Texts Concordance Series (1993-2002. All my translations from the Zhuangzi are based on Mair (1998) and Ziporyn (2009).
13 The two issues are more famously attributed to other "sophists". A more likely member of these debaters is Gongsun Long公孫龍 (ca. 320-250 BCE), who was said to "excel at the disputation on 'the hard and white'" (善為堅白之辯) in Shiji 76 (平原君虞卿列傳). He was also said to dispute over both issues in Shiji 74 (孟子荀卿列傳), Huainanzi 11 ("Equalizing the Customs" 齊 俗訓), and Zhuangzi 17 ("Autumn Floods" 秋水). Another connection is that there is a chapter called "On the Hard and White" (堅白論) in the received text named after Gongsun Long. One other candidate is Hui Shi惠施 (or Huizi 惠子, ca. 370-310 BCE), who is said to be obsessed with the "hard and white" in Zhuangzi chapter 2 and chapter 5. In Zhuangzi chapter 33, he is also said to "have the proper understanding of the disputers" (曉辯者) and be resonant with their delight in sophistry.
patterns itself on Mencius' portrayal (Qian 1994, 285-87). Considering Yang as a meaningless constituent, he proposes to read this passage as a description of the later Mohists instead of real Yang-Mo. 14 Qian's reading is an illustration of a general attitude towards this description: a lack of appreciation of its uniqueness and informativeness not only because of Mencius' influence but also because of a preoccupation with factuality. Although recognizing the rhetorical nature of Mencius' portrayal, he is still enthralled by the quest for a plausible explanation of this description on a sound "factual" basis. This determined his opinion of what a proper portrayal of Yang-Mo should be.

Yang-Mo as Disputers versus Zeng-Shi as Practitioners
The second characteristic feature of the Zhuangzian-Hanfeizian portrayal is Yang-Mo's recurrent attachment to another pair of figures: Zeng Shen (ca. 505-432 BCE) and Shi Qiu (or Shi Yu 史魚, ca. 534-493 BCE). The former was a disciple of Confucius, famous for his practice of "filial piety" (xiao 孝), the latter a minister of Wei 衛 considered as a representative of "moral straightness" (zhi 直) or "loyalty" (zhong 忠). These two figures, in Zhuangzi chapter 8, are depicted as those who "have extra fingers in their humaneness (zhi yu ren 枝於仁)" by "pulling up the [artificial] virtues and blocking the inborn nature in exchange for a good name, thus making the people of the world trumpeting and drumming forth in pursuit of unreachable standards (擢德塞性以收名聲，使天下簧鼓以奉不及 之法) (Zhuangzi 8/22/8-9)". In contrast with the disputers Yang and Mo, who express their pursuit of useless distinctions using their mouths, the practitioners Zeng and Shi express the pursuit of inauspicious moral standards through their deeds. The two pairs of figures, therefore, are often juxtaposed with each other. For example, in Zhuangzi chapter 10, although being mixed with other "experts" such as Li Zhu and Music Master Kuang, Yang-Mo and Zeng-Shi are closely tied up with each other in the same sentence: Only when the (virtuous) deeds of Zeng and Shi are pared back, the (eloquent) mouths of Yang and Mo are gagged, and the humaneness and righteousness are discarded, will the virtues of all under Heaven begin to merge in obscurity. The combination of Yang-Mo and Zeng-Shi also appears in Han Feizi chapter 47. 16 Here the disputatious intellects Yang Zhu and Mozi are contrasted with the virtuous practitioners Bao Jiao 鮑焦 and Hua Jiao 華角. The contrast between these two pairs of figures is implicitly associated with another contrast between the intellects Kong and Mo 孔墨 and the practitioners Zeng and Shi: 15 Going by the fragments in Cheng Xuanying's 成玄英 Zhuangzi commentary and Zhuangzi chapter 11, Liu Shipei 劉師培 argued that there should be a missing character "Jie" 桀 before "Zhi" 跖.
16 Back in the 1930s, Luo Genze already pointed out that since the term "Zeng-Shi" only appears in the four Outer Chapters of the Zhuangzi and several chapters of the Han Feizi (some of which also contain the combination of Yang-Mo). Luo argues that these passages in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi are very likely to be composed by the same author or school. "Apart from these fragments, few have mentioned Zeng and Shi. Therefore, it is highly suspicious that these fragments are written by a single hand or school. (除此數篇外，很少提到曾史的，則這幾篇的同出一派或一人之手， 是有極大嫌疑的.)" (Luo 1958, 287) The passages that contain Zeng-Shi are from Hanfeizi chapter 26, chapter 38, and chapter 46. However, putting aside the enthusiasm for tracing authorship and dates of transmitted texts, these passages might be more safely seen as different early fragments sharing the same textual pattern. focus on their futility and lack of profit. The descriptions in the Zhuangzi rather emphasize that they have lost their inborn nature while that in the Han Feizi highlights that they contribute nothing to the prosperity of the state. The fact that the same Yang-Mo as useless disputers are described by different texts with variations in contexts might be a sign that this Yang-Mo portrayal was once circulated in various forms. The fluid descriptions were probably the product of the reuse of a basic portrayal adapted to fulfil the needs of different authors. This could explain why among the different textual styles there are several shared formulaic elements, such as the pairing between Yang-Mo and Zeng-Shi, the roles of eloquent disputers and moral practitioners, and the theme of uselessness. That is to say, this portrayal had its own history in early China, which was very likely relatively unrelated to Mencius' portrayal, or at least should not be simplified as just one of its imitations or repetitions. This textual fluidity will be discussed later in the next section of this paper. The role of useless disputers is thus, unsurprisingly, not exclusively played by Yang-Mo. Several early texts also share the same motif (i.e., uselessness) and similar contrast (i.e., the disputers versus practitioners), in which the role of Yang-Mo can be replaced by other similar actors, such as Gongsun Long, Huizi, the pair of Ru and Mo, Shen [Dao] 慎道 and Mo, and Hui Shi and Deng Xi 鄧析. All these actors are playing the role of disputers, and sometimes related to the vague thesis of the "hard and white". This disputers-practitioners contrast also sometimes extends to a wider contrast, namely between masters of different fields. In this broader contrast, famous masters such as Li Zhu, Music Master Kuang, and Carpenter Chui are classified according to which sense organ is involved in their skills (see Appendix).
One may consider these descriptions of Yang-Mo to be less informative because the role of disputers can be played by other figures too, and thus the roles themselves seem more important than the actual figures, who turn out to be replaceable. Their informational value is then diminished by the likelihood that they are not an intentionally faithful portrayal of Yang-Mo, but a recurrent theme contingently in the shape of Yang-Mo. However, this conclusion is again caused by a fixation with the factuality of a portrayal, which may not be entire adequate in the case of the Mencius. This alternative portrayal may, moreover, be a bit disappointing compared to Mencius' unique portrayal of Yang Zhu promoting "for oneself " and "not pulling out a hair" (7A26) and Mozi "caring equally for all" and "wearing smooth from the crown to the heels" (摩頂放踵, 7A26). In contrast, the portraits of Yang-Mo in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi are far from unique descriptions-they could describe any other early debaters. This difference gives the impression that the latter portraits are less informative. However, the metaphors of pulling out hair and wearing smooth one's body are, in fact, also not exclusive to  If the description about hair nevertheless serves as an informative portrayal of Yang-Mo, why not the role of useless disputers as well? Furthermore, other figures such as Shen Dao, in comparison, would not be expected to have a unique depiction-scholars are more comfortable with Shen Dao merely being one of the seemingly replaceable actors of disputers.
The two abovementioned traits-the futility theme and coupling of Yang-Mo and Zeng-Shi-define a type of Yang-Mo portrayal that is distinct from Mencius' characterization. But the ascendancy of Mencius significantly influenced the understanding of Yang-Mo, thus diminishing the status of alternative Yang-Mo portrayals. To fully break through the unquestioned dominance of Mencius' depiction, we still need to reconsider the textual relations between different early portrayals of Yang-Mo.

Interrelations between the Early Mentions of Yang-Mo
The dominance of Mencius' portrayal of Yang-Mo over that in other texts, including the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi, to some extent rests on the assumption of Mencius' chronological precedence. Qian Mu explicitly articulated this presupposition in 1935. 20 Being one of the scholars who have noticed that there are also mentions of Yang-Mo in the Zhuangzi, he explained this commonality as "merely owing to the fact that the text [Zhuangzi] came after the Mencius and adopted the name of Yang-Mo (特其書出《孟子》後，襲用楊墨之名)" (Qian 1994, 286 20 One other reason might be that Mencius' portrayal is more arresting and better known than the others. Esther Klein's insight into the Inner Chapters of Zhuangzi is perhaps again applicable in this case. For scholars working on early texts, it is a habit of mind to consider insightful and refined works as masterpieces by great masters in early times. It is natural to presume the ingenious Mencius' portrayal to be the origin of the relatively less elegant descriptions of Yang-Mo in other texts. However, "a work of genius can arise in almost any time". The elegance of a portrayal could also be a result of later refinement of primitive ones. See Klein, 2011, 306. 21 It is widely accepted that the relatively more coherent Inner Chapters, which are supposed to be the work of the historical Zhuangzi (ca. 369-286 BCE), are a more reliable source of Warring States thought than the other parts of the received Zhuangzi. For a reflection of this prevalent opinion, see Klein 2011. 22 According to Bertil Lundahl, there is a group of chapters for which there is external evidence in the Shiji 史記 and Huainanzi to support Han Fei's (ca. 281-233 BCE) authorship. These "safest" chapters include chapters 11, 12, 22, 30-39, 49, 50. Connecting to the theme of "self-defeating behaviour", which is brought up in the chapter 49, and echoing the topics of several "safest" chapters, Han Feizi 47, "Eight Persuasions" 八說, is widely regarded as a chapter written by Han Fei himself. See Lundahl 1992, 139-69. It is a prevalent opinion that the Mencius is a more reliable source of Warring States thought than most transmitted texts. The reason for this, as Michael Hunter (2014) pointed out, is perhaps Mencius' consistency in thought and language. 23 However, some scholars considered the composition of the Mencius no less complex than other transmitted texts. For example, Bruce and Taeko Brooks argue that the Mencius can be more plausibly seen as a text of different layers due to its seeming inconsistencies. In their view, the Yang-Mo passages, which occur in books III and VII of Mencius, belong to the latest layer of the text (just before the Chu 楚 conquest of Lu 魯 in 249 BCE) (Brooks and Brooks 2002, 242-43, 256-58), while most scholars regarded them as representative of the historical Mencius. Michael Hunter also contends that at least some fractions of the received Mencius can be dated to the Han period (Hunter 2014, 74-75). Even though their views of the dates might also, to different degrees, be problematic, these considerations are sufficient to appreciate the likelihood that the Yang-Mo passages in the Mencius may not necessarily predate and thus influence those in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi.
The second point is about the location of the Yang-Mo passages in the received Zhuangzi. Compared to the Mencius and Han Feizi, the received Zhuangzi is more obviously an assembly of different groups of material. The division of the Zhuangzi into different sections, such as "inner", "outer", and "miscellaneous", has played an essential role in its complex textual history, and the Inner Chapters are conventionally viewed as a more authentic section. Scholars adopting this view, like Qian Mu, might perceive the Yang-Mo passages in the Zhuangzi, which are located in the non-Inner Chapters, as less reliable records of the thought of the historical Zhuangzi (ca. 369-286 BCE), who is supposed to have lived approximately at the same time as Mencius. 24 However, this view has been challenged by recent studies (Klein 2011). 25 If the Inner Chapters are not necessarily more privileged, the location of the Yang-Mo passages in the Outer Chapters of the Zhuangzi should no longer be a valid reason for considering them as less reliable or less important.
Scholars have also noted that the three mentions of Yang-Mo in Zhuangzi chapters 8, 10, and 12 come from a group of texts that are generally considered among the most coherent parts of the received Zhuangzi (Graham 2001, 197). 26 Going by similarities in terms and topics, many scholars believe that this homogeneous corpus could be attributed to a single (group of ) author(s) (Luo 1958, 284-88;Guan 1961, 319-58;Zhang 1983;Graham 2003;Liu 2003, 84-88, 134-47;Baggio 2014). This homogeneity encourages scholars to treat this group of texts as a coherent textual unit. Most of their discussions rest upon the belief that texts with similar traits could be dated to the same period. Accordingly, they tend to perceive similar phrases (such as "Yang-Mo") and textual parallels found in presumably more reliable texts whose dates are more established (such as the Han Feizi) as the evidence to determine the date of this textual unit (Luo 1958, 284-88;Graham 2003, 84;Baggio 2014, 13-18;Li 2018). However, as Esther Klein has pointed out, the complex nature of the received Zhuangzi as a compiled, edited and often rearranged text suggests the possibility that its coherence and consistency may be due to the editing process (Klein 2011, 310). We should avoid over-interpreting the textual consistency as a sign of single authorship, and thus dating the entire textual group in the same period. An alternative is to consider these similarities as the result of a compilation in which similar texts were selected, assembled, or edited on the basis of their primitive forms. To more clearly explain what I mean by "primitive forms", I refer to the concept of "open text".
Qian Mu considered that the mentions of Yang-Mo in the Zhuangzi are the "adoption and continuation" (襲用) of Mencius' original combination of Yang-Mo. However, this kind of thinking, according to Du Heng's research, is perhaps a view "applying the logic of closed texts onto a largely open textual culture" (Du 2018, 25). In her dissertation, Du pointed out that there are two different ways of imagining early textual cultures, namely, a world of "open texts" whose contents are substantially fluid and adaptable, and that of "closed texts", whose contents are already "packaged together and stabilized as an integral whole" (ibid., 23). 27 A text is "open" when "the majority of its users are not preoccupied with its faithful reproduction", whereas a text is "closed" when "the majority of textual producers are concerned with its accurate replication" (ibid., 11). 28 As a result, concepts such as "authenticity", "citation", and "imitation" of a text are only meaningful in closed textual culture. Du also identified the problem that the current view of early texts has to a degree been influenced by how closed texts are expected to behave, even though pre-imperial Chinese texts were mostly open and did not circulate like modern books. Confucian and the so-called "Daoist" or "Legalist" texts). That is to say, they were gradually finalized as the form that is perhaps very close to their current one in the received texts. I call the texts at this stage closing texts because they might not yet have been considered by their composers and users as closed texts attributable to particular authors. In the final stage, they were eventually completely closed with the help of not only the functioning of "para-text" (namely, author name and chapter and book title) but also accredited repetitions (namely, references and citations) from other texts. 29 To reconsider the question of whether the mentions of Yang-Mo in the Mencius influenced those in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi, it seems that we should not regard the interrelations between them as what has been described as "reception" or "intertextuality". In the alternative model, the interrelations already occurred at the stage when they were open. Therefore, the best possible deduction from it is that some pre-existing open texts about Yang-Mo already existed before the compilation of these received texts. We should admit some degree of uncertainty about the various dates of these emerging texts and our inability to answer the question of which Yang-Mo portrayal is the earliest and most original. 30 With this admission, our readings of the Yang-Mo passages in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi will be less troubled by the seductive but indeterminable question of whether these mentions of Yang-Mo came after and were influenced by the ones in the Mencius.

Conclusion: Yang-Mo beyond Mencius' Portrayal
In our re-examination of the Yang-Mo passages, we found that the images of Yang-Mo in the Zhuangzi and Han Feizi are unique due to both their accusation of useless verbal disputation and the coupling of sophists and moral-practitioners. We also realized that an unbiased reading of these Yang-Mo portraits could only be arrived at with effort due to the profound and variegated influences of Mencius' depiction. Unfamiliarity with Yang-Mo as sophists may be the result of the unconscious acceptance of Mencius' depiction of them as advocates of extreme egoism and altruism. Or we might, like Qian Mu, be suspicious of Mencius' portrayal but still retain its special status as the prototype for other early descriptions. These influences have marginalized a unique type of Yang-Mo portrayal that once dynamically circulated in an open textual culture. Like the blind men figuring out the nature of an elephant, we can learn when opening up to a variety of views and experiences. It is certainly unwise to privilege one individual's perception without accepting new experiences. How much more so in the case of learning and conceptualizing a historical pair of masters from the remote past for whose existence there is so little textual evidence.

Appendix: Fragments with the Shared Motif of Uselessness and the Shared Contrast ("Disputers-Practitioners" or "Disputers-Practitioners-Experts")
Text

三子之知幾乎(…)以堅白之昧終
The intelligence of these three masters was virtually complete (…) some ended their days in the obscurities of the discussion of the "hard and white".