Wu Wei

Wu wei (Traditional Chinese characters: 無為 Simplified Chinese characters: 无为) is an important tenet of Taoism / Daoism that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Wu may be translated as not have; Wei (2nd tone) may be translated as do, act, serve as, govern. The literal meaning of Wu Wei is "without action" and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei : "action without action." The practice of wu wei and the efficacy of wei wu wei are fundamental tenets in Chinese thought and have been mostly emphasized by the Taoist / Daoist school. The aim of wu wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao, and, as a result, obtain an irresistible form of "soft and invisible power" over things (the self, others, a country).
 

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In the traditional (partly Confucian) Chinese understanding of governance, a prince has only to sit at the right place, facing south, with a prince's traditional attributes, and his country will be well governed. In Lun Yu II.1., Confucius compares a virtuous prince to the North Pole: he does not move and everything turns around him. There are magical justifications behind this idea of a power obtained by 'inaction'. It is the Chinese "correspondence", or "synchronicity" theory, where the macrocosm is reflected (or even duplicated) in microcosms. According to the theory, ordering the Emperor's palace is governing the country well: the palace is an homothetic reproduction of the country. Chinese history is full of examples of natural disasters cured by means such as the opening of a new door in the walls of the Imperial palace. Some philosophers, for example Wang Chong, have questioned this theory. A more pragmatic view may interpret this as a means to restrain the prince from abuse of power, enjoining him to 'do' as little as possible.

In the original Taoist / Daoist texts, wu wei is often associated with water and its yielding nature. Although water is soft and weak, it has the capacity to slowly erode solid stone. Water is without will (i.e., the will for a shape), opposing wood, stone, or any solid material that can be broken into pieces. It can therefore fill any container, take any shape, go anywhere, even into the smallest holes. When sprayed in thousands of small drops, water still has the capacity to reunite and eventually joins the endless sea. Furthermore, while always going downward, water rests in the 'dark valley'—where biological life is regenerated—an analogy to the vagina.

 

Philosophy of Wu Wei

Several chapters of the most important Taoist scripture, the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao Tze (Lao Tzu, Lao Zi), allude to 'diminishing doing', or 'diminishing will', as the key aspect of the sage's success. Taoist philosophy recognizes that the universe already works harmoniously according to its own laws; as man exerts his will against the world he disrupts the harmony that already exists. This is not to say that man should not exert will. Rather, it is how he acts in relation to the natural processes already extant that is critical.

Wu Wei has also been translated as "creative quietude," or the art of letting-be. This does not mean a dulling of the mind; rather, it is an activity undertaken to perceive the Tao within all things, and to conform oneself to its "way".....

One way of thinking of wu wei is through Zhuangzi's (Chuang Tzu, Chuang Tze) writing about how a prince should govern his kingdom. The advice that was given is that it is similar to frying a lot of small fish. In other words, create general policies and direction, but do not micromanage. To do this well, you must understand the ways of your people and not go against the grain.

 

Practice of Wu Wei

As one diminishes doing—here 'doing' means those intentional actions taken to benefit us or actions taken to change the world from its natural state and evolution—one diminishes all those actions committed against the Tao, the already present natural harmony. As such one begins to cultivate Tao, becomes more in harmony with Tao, and, according to the great ancient Taoist philosopher Chuang Tze (Chuang Tzu, Zhuangzi), attains a state of Ming, or 'clear seeing'. It is in the state of Ming that the Taoist is in full harmony with Tao, and 'having arrived at this point of non-action, there is nothing that he does not do.' It is upon achievement of this Chinese equivalent to 'enlightenment' that a sage begins to perform wei wu wei, or 'action without action.' Thus the sage will be able to work in harmony with Tao to accomplish what is needed, and, working in perfect harmony with the Tao, leave no trace of having done it.

 

The ultimate: harmony with the Tao

Taoists have long sought immortality and they saw working in perfect harmony with Tao as the way to achieve this. When one works in perfect harmony with Tao, one is not using more energy than needed, nor is one doing things that cause the body or spirit to break down. Taoists believe they can, in theory, live forever. Chuang Tzu (Chuang Tze, Zhuang Zi) proposed an illustration of this idea: a tree with a twisted trunk will not be cut by any lumberjack and will live its whole life in peace, thanks to its uselessness.

Recommended Reading

Adapted with permission from Wikipedia

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