 Hui Shi, Gongsun Long, and the others have been described as Chinese “sophists,” and there are indeed superficial similarities between them and the Greek sophists, at least as the two groups were characterized by their respective enemies. Their social role and the subject matter of their inquiries were generally quite  different.[2]  But both were interested in language and philosophical issues inspired by reflection on language. Both taught rhetoric and argued lawsuits. Both were attacked for arguing purely to win, for being willing to argue either side of any issue, and for propounding paradoxes, all without regard for the facts. Their inquiries led a few thinkers in each tradition toward relativism. At least some members of both groups were itinerant, the Greeks moving from place to place giving public exhibitions and offering instruction, the Chinese typically seeking to win the ear of rulers and influence political policy. 