In our society we believe that having entertainment is an important and integral part of our society. We believe that entertainment is important because of the emotional benefits it gives to our citizens and the economic benefits if gives to the state. By entertainment we mean musical performances, community events, films, games, and holiday celebrations, all of which citizens can enjoy and participate in. Unlike Mozi’s view of entertainment (particularly music) we believe that entertainment can actually increase work productivity by acting as a reward for the hard work our citizens engage in on a daily basis. For example Mozi says that:

What pleasure would kings, dukes, and great men find in reverently listening to them [(musical performances)] all by themselves? Their enjoyment must come from listening in the company of common folk or gentlemen. But if they listen in the company of gentlemen, then those gentlemen must neglect the business of governing. And if they listen in the company of common folk, then those folk must abandon their proper work. These days, when kings, dukes, and great men put on musical performances, they divert vast resources that could be used to produce food and clothing for the people. (Mozi, ch. 32, p.107)

Mozi is arguing that musical performances (or entertainment) are a waste of time and resources and are therefore detrimental to the state as a whole. But in our society we believe that entertainment is beneficial to the state because it provides people with a sense of contentment or happiness. And by increasing their emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing we argue that in turn, they will become more hardworking and efficient workers resulting in an increased quality of life for the whole society. In other words, the main purpose of entertainment in our society is to benefit or reward the people in a way so that it also benefits the state’s productivity in the long run.

 

 

Types of Entertainment:

In our society we don’t believe that there are  necessarily good or bad types of entertainment. This contrasts Confucius who argues that certain types of “bad” music can lead you astray and that only listening to the “right” music is beneficial. For example Confucius says:

As for music, listen only to the Shao and Wu. Prohibit the tunes of Zheng, and keep glib people at the distance-for the tunes of the Zheng are licentious, and glib people are dangerous. (The Analects 15.11)

But, in our society we believe that music or any form of entertainment won’t influence people to bad things but rather it will serve as a reward or incentive to work harder. We believe that the people will find contentment in engaging in different types of activities other than their work and that what makes people happy may differ depending on the individual. Therefore, we believe that it is better to expose the people to a variety of types of entertainment as a means to increase their potential wellbeing, happiness, and ultimately, their standard of living.