[The Way Through Tools: The Greatest Victory Is to End War]
In the chaos of the Warring States period, Zimo, the son of a potter, is taken in as a disciple by Mozi after witnessing his father die beneath the iron hooves of the Qi army. He uses clay to give concrete form to the Mohist ideals of “universal love and opposition to aggression” through mechanical ingenuity. His wooden kites can carry a hundred jin, but are never used to drop fire-oil jars; his foldable clay stoves spare ordinary people the suffering of war. When Qin’s fierce army closes in, Zimo’s “rotating crossbow matrix” unleashes prickly ash powder, defending the limits of “righteousness” without taking lives.
