Dongzi 董子

Dongzi 董子 "Master Dong" was a Mohist treatise written during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE) by the philosopher Dong Wuxin 董無心 about whom virtually nothing is known.

According to the imperial bibliography Jingji zhi 經籍志 in the official dynastic history Suishu 隋書 it was only 1 juan long. The Song-period 宋 (960-1279) bibliography Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志 mentions a commentary on the Dongzi written by Wu Mi 吳秘 (jinshi degree 1034). The encyclcopaedia Yuhai 玉海 quotes from a bibliography called Zhongxingge shumu 中興館閣書目, which says that the Mohist treatises Dongzi and Chanzi 纏子 discussed the themes of "exalting unity", "universal love", "exalting worthies" and "percipient ghosts" that are also focal themes in the Mohist canon.

The Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) bibliography Shishantang shumu 世善堂書目 by Chen Di 陳第 (1541-1617) still lists the Dongzi, but it is lost today. Ma Guohan 馬國翰 (1794-1857), a scholar of the Qing period 清 (1644-1911), collected surviving fragments and compiled four chapters that are published in the series Yuhan shanfang yiji shu 玉函山房輯佚書. In this edition, the Dongzi includes some verses that Ma Guohan rated as definitely not being part of the Chanzi. Some scholars think that both books were one and the same text.