Abstract: Asking questions is the beginning of independent inquiry activities. Only by enhancing learners’ abilities of problem generation and exploration in both life and engineering contexts, can life and engineering become an inexhaustible source of nourishment for learners’ lifelong growth. During the Warring States period, the Mohist school proposed the proposition of “doubt” in Mohist Canon, and provided four kinds of scene sentences related to problem generation, speculation, and exploration in the scriptures. By explaining and deciphering the internal structure of these scene sentences, Mozi’s teaching method of cultivating students to observe, raise questions, and explore independently in life and engineering, namely Mozi’s Four Doubts, can be obtained. By comparing it with Socratic midwifery, the unique educational value of Mozi’s Four Doubts can be clarified. Mozi’s Four Doubts still have important inspiration for today’s life education, engineering education and labor education. Mozi should be regarded as the world’s earliest thinker and educator to carry out the education to cultivate students’ thinking about observing, questioning and exploring.

Key words: Mozi, engineering, education, problem thinking, exploration