The school of Mohism was founded by Mo Ti, who was born shortly after the death of Confucius. Mo Ti lived during the period of the Warring States, which was characterised by chaos, confusion and conflict between the various feudal states. Mo Ti sought to address the problems of his period through creating a philosophy based on universal love and promoting attitudes and conduct that is most useful to people. Mo Ti lived out the principles of his philosophy. It is recorded that on one occasion he walked for ten days and ten nights to prevent a larger state from attacking a smaller one.

Mo Ti was treated by his followers as virtually infallible, and his successors were also accorded great obedience by their followers. During the fourth century BCE the movement was strong enough to rival Confucianism. Mencius (371-289) denounced the doctrine of universal love as one that undermined children's relations with their parents and fit only for "beasts". Hsun-tzu attacked Mo Ti's opposition to music as indicative of a lack of refinement on the part of Mo Ti.

During the third century BCE the movement went into decline, all but disappearing by the time of the unification of China in 221 BCE. Little interest was paid to the Mo-tzu until the arrival of Christianity in China, when scholars explored the similarities between Moist and Christian teaching on universal love. Later, during the communist period Moism received some official sympathy because of its opposition to aristocratic privilege.

The doctrines of Mohism are to be found in the work Mo-tzu, named after the founder of the Moist tradition Mo Tse (c. 470-390 BCE). Although attributed to Mo Tse, the Mo-tzu was probably composed over a number of generations by Mo Tse's disciples. The Mo-tzu originally consisted of 71 chapters, but 16 of these have been lost.

Universal love. In contrast to the Confucians, who taught that devotion was particularly due to one's family, Moism prescribed equal love for all people.

Opposition to offensive war. Mo Tse opposed all forms of aggressive action, particularly in the form of large states attacking smaller ones. He did, however, accept that it was legitimate to use force to defend those who are being attacked.

Opposition to music. Mo Tse regarded music as a source of extravagance, associating it with dance, flamboyance and a waste of public resources, which could be used to feed, shelter and protect people.

Opposition to elaborate funerals. Funerals were excessively expensive and the time of mourning excessively lengthy.

Divine retribution. Mo Tse believed that heaven is a personal force, which knows of the misdeeds that people perform and punishes people for them. Such a belief serves to encourage people to conduct themselves morally.

Government. Unlike Confucius, Mo-tzu did not accept the tradition that emperors derive their mandate from heaven; instead the position of the emperor should be based solely on merit. While the emperor should be obeyed, people have the right to criticize the emperor if his actions are not in accord with the will of heaven.