Jiéyòng 節用

‘Economy of Expenditure’: a triad of chapters of the Mòzǐ, the third of which is lost. The Jiéyòng chapters evaluate objects, institutions, and policies according to the purposes they serve and argue that expenditure beyond what is required to achieve those purposes is unjustified. Their recurring concern is sufficiency rather than luxury, making them one of the clearest expressions of the Mohist tendency to assess practices by utility, efficiency, and social consequences rather than prestige, beauty, or tradition.