Wu wei
Wu wei (simplified Chinese: 无为; traditional Chinese: 無為; pinyin: wúwéi) is an ancient Chinese concept literally meaning "inexertion", "inaction", or "effortless action".[a][1][2] Wu wei emerged in the Spring and Autumn period. With early literary examples, as an idea, in the Classic of Poetry,[3] it becomes an important concept in the Confucian Analects,[4] Chinese statecraft,[5] and Daoism. It was most commonly used to refer to an ideal form of government,[6] including the behavior of the emperor, describing a state of personal harmony, free-flowing spontaneity and laissez-faire. It generally denotes a state of spirit or state of mind, and in Confucianism, accords with conventional morality.
For other uses, see Wuwei (disambiguation) and Wu Wei (disambiguation).Wu wei
無為
无为
wúwéi
wúwéi
wu2-wei2
mòuhwàih
mou4-wai4
vô vi
무위
無爲
muwi
muwi
無為
むい
mui
mui
Sinologist Jean François Billeter describes wu-wei as a "state of perfect knowledge of the reality of the situation, perfect efficaciousness and the realization of a perfect economy of energy", which Edward Slingerland qualifies in practice as a "set of ('transformed') dispositions (including physical bearing)... conforming with the normative order".[7]
Wu Wei is the main principle of Dao philosophy, which speaks of the importance of achieving the Dao or the Natural Way in all actions and development of things. Without forcing or rushing against the natural order of things to avoid false development and mistakes. The philosophy of Dao, 'Dao Jia' and the religion of Dao, 'Dao Jiao' are two different things. For example, in the philosophy of Dao, 'Dao Jia' there is no mysticism and belief in ghosts and evil spirits.
The founder of Dao philosophy, Lao Zi, successfully founded his philosophical school with the manuscript 'Dao De Jing' ('Treatise on Morals'). In addition, to achieve the state of Dao, the followers were required to perform certain physical exercises. Later, during the Warring States era, professional warriors used Wu Wei as the primary guide for their training and fighting methods and created Wu Wei Martial Arts. At that harsh time, among the best ancient martial arts schools, the Wu Wei school had an undeniable reputation. The core fighting skill of Wu Wei Martial Arts is the skill of the rolling power, 'Hun Yuan Gong'. According to ancient tradition, the name of that combat system was most often known as Wuweimen, 'Gates to Wu Wei'.
Confucian development[edit]
Given scant data, sinologist Roger T. Ames regards attempts to determine the origin of wu wei as amounting to strained speculation, although Ames speculates that Shen Buhai's interpretation originated in the Han state he had governance over.[14][15] Few modern scholars necessarily find Creel's chronology entirely convincing. While early scholarship may have assumed an earlier dating of the Daodejing, few critical scholars believe, for instance, that Laozi was a contemporary of Confucius.
Apart from Shen Buhai, the Analects (Lun-yu) is the only preserved text to make use of the term prior to the Zhuangzi. Hence, Creel believed that an important clue to the development of wu wei existed in the Analects, in a saying attributed to Confucius, which reads: "The Master said, 'Was it not Shun who did nothing and yet ruled well? What did he do? He merely corrected his person ("made himself reverent" – Edward Slingerland) and took his proper position (facing south) as ruler'". The concept of a divine king whose "magic power" (virtue) "regulates everything in the land" (Creel) pervades early Chinese philosophy, particularly "in the early branches of Quietism that developed in the fourth century B.C."[16]
Edward Slingerland argues wu wei in this sense has to be attained. But in the Confucian conception of virtue, virtue can only be attained by not consciously trying to attain it.[6] The manifestation of virtue is regarded as a reward by Heaven for following its will – as a power that enables them to establish this will on earth. In this, probably more original sense, wu wei may be regarded as the "skill" of "becoming a fully realized human being", a sense which it shares with Daoism. This "skill" avoids relativity through being linked to a "normative" metaphysical order, making its spontaneity "objective". By achieving a state of wu wei (and taking his proper ritual place), Shun "unifies and orders" the entire world, and finds his place in the "cosmos". Taken as a historical fact demonstrating the viable superiority of Confucianism (or Daoism, for Daoist depictions), wu wei may be understood as a strongly "realist" spiritual-religious ideal, differing from Kantian or Cartesian realism in its Chinese emphasis on practice.[17]
The "object" of wu wei "skill-knowledge" is the Way, which is – to an extent regardless of school – "embodying" the mind to a "normative order existing independently of the minds of the practitioners". The primary example of Confucianism – Confucius at age 7 – displays "mastery of morality" spontaneously, his inclinations being in harmony with his virtue. Confucius considers training unnecessary if one is born loving the Way, as with the disciple Yan Hui. Mencius believed that men are already good, and need only realize it not by trying, but by allowing virtue to realize itself, and coming to love the Way. Training is done to learn to spontaneously love the Way. Virtue is compared with the grain seed (being domesticated) and the flow of water.[18] On the other hand, Xun Kuang considered it possible to attain wu wei only through a long and intensive traditional training.[19]
Modern[edit]
Philosopher Alan Watts believed that wu wei can best be described as "not-forcing."[82] Watts also understood wu wei as “the art of getting out of one’s own way” and offered the following illustration: “The river is not pushed from behind, nor is it pulled from ahead. It falls with gravity.”[83]
Leo Tolstoy was deeply influenced by Daoist philosophy, and wrote his own interpretation of wu wei in his piece Non-Activity.
Psychoanalyst Robin S. Brown has examined wu wei in the context of Western psychotherapy.[84] Brown links wu wei with the psychoanalytic notion of enactment.