Wu-wei

''Wu wei'' () is a polysemous, ancient Chinese concept expressing an ideal practice of "inaction", "inexertion" or "effortless action", as a state of personal harmony and free-flowing, spontaneous creative manifestation. In a political context, it also refers to an ideal form or principle of governance or government.

''Wu wei'' appears as an idea as early as the Spring and Autumn period, with early literary examples in the Classic of Poetry. It became an important concept in the Confucian Analects, linking a Confucian ethic of practical morality to a state of being harmonizing intention and action. It would go on to become a central concept in Legalist statecraft and Daoism, in Daoism as a concept emphasizing alignment with the natural Dao in actions and intentions, avoiding force or haste against the natural order.

Sinologist Jean François Billeter describes wu-wei as a "state of perfect knowledge (understanding) of the coexistence of the situation and perceiver, perfect efficaciousness and the realization of a perfect economy of energy".

Early scholarship

The early scholarship of Feng Youlan suggested a distinction between philosophical and religious Daoism. Following him, sinologist Herrlee G. Creel took a "contemplative Daoism" as coming first, and "purposive Daoism" second. Creel took ''wu wei'' as found in the '' Zhuangzi'' and ''Daodejing'' as denoting two different things:

# An "attitude of genuine non-action, motivated by a lack of desire to participate in human affairs" and
# A "technique by means of which the one who practices it may gain enhanced control of human affairs".

The first aligns closely with the contemplative Daoism of the Zhuangzi. Daoist texts rarely suggest that wu wei could help ordinary people gain political power, portraying it as a source of serenity. Creel takes the Zhuangzi's idea of Wu wei as rooted in its transcendental idea of the dao, viewing such things as life and death as an "indissoluble unity." Creel did not see the ''Zhuangzi's'' view of wu wei as a definitive philosophical idea so much as that the sage avoids worldly affairs. Whether seeking gain or fame, the Zhuangzi regards the "small" and "superior" men largely the same, inasmuch as they abandon the "normal feelings of men" and "proper human course" in favor of "strange and unnatural endeavors".

Creel suggested that Daoists might have adopted the second idea of wu wei from Shen Buhai (400 BCE – ) as they became interested in rulers' use of power. Regardless, Shen Buhai and the Han Feizi are a major influence for the Huainanzi's idea of wu wei in the Han dynasty.

Called "rule by non-activity" and strongly advocated by the Han Feizi, during the Han dynasty until the reign of Han Wudi, rulers confined their activity "chiefly to the appointment and dismissal of his high officials". This "conception of the ruler's role as a supreme arbiter, who keeps the essential power firmly in his grasp" while leaving details to ministers, has a "deep influence on the theory and practice of Chinese monarchy", playing a "crucial role in the promotion of the autocratic tradition of the Chinese polity", ensuring the ruler's power and the stability of the polity.

Although the Inner Zhuangzi may precede them, much of the Outer Zhuangzi derives more from at least the later part of the Warring States period, ridiculing Confucian moralization. Still only appearing three times in the second half of the Zhuangzi, Creel supposed that early Daoists may have avoided the term for its association with Legalism before ultimately co-opting its governmental sense as well, regarding this as attempted in the Outer ''Zhuangzi''s chapter 13, . In the more "purposive" Daoism of the ''Daodejing,'' likely written after the early ''Zhuangzi'', ''wu wei'' becomes a major "guiding principle for social and political pursuit", in which the Daoist "seeks to use his power to control and govern the world".

Confucian development

Sinologist Roger T. Ames regards attempts to determine the origin of ''wu wei'' as strained speculation. But while Shen Buhai bears a "striking" resemblance to the Tao te Ching, it would still be difficult to date the Tao te Ching back to the time of Confucius, even if it predated the third century bce. Apart from Shen Buhai, the Analects of Confucius (Lun-yu) are the only preserved text prior to the Zhuangzi that directly use the term. More modernly, Edward Slingerland believes the ''idea'' of wu wei predated the term. With older sinologists more focused on terms, Creel believed that an important clue to the idea of ''wu wei'' existed in the Analects.

A saying attributed to Confucius 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" – 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."

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. 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.

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. On the other hand, Xun Kuang considered it possible to attain ''wu wei'' only through a long and intensive traditional training.

Daoist development

Following its developments elsewhere, Zhuang Zhou and Laozi turn towards an unadorned "no effort". Laozi, as opposed to carved Confucian jade, advocates a return to the primordial Mother and to become like uncarved wood. He condemns doing and grasping, urging the reader to cognitively grasp oneness (still the mind), reduce desires and the size of the state, leaving human nature untouched. In practice, ''wu wei'' is aimed at through behaviour modification; cryptically referenced meditation and more purely physical breathing techniques as in the '' Guanzi'', which includes just taking the right posture. While the ''Guanzi'' itself may have been compiled even after the Han Feizi, they may be of much earlier origin.

Though, by still needing to make a cognitive effort, perhaps not resolving the paradox of not doing, the concentration on accomplishing ''wu wei'' through the physiological would influence later thinkers. The ''Daodejing'' became influential in intellectual circles around 250 BCE. Included in the 2nd century Guanzi, the likely older '' Neiye'' (or ''Inward Training'') may be the oldest recovered Chinese text, describing what would become Daoist breath meditation techniques and qi circulation, with Harold D. Roth considering it to be a genuine 4th-century BCE text.

Verse 13 describes the aspects of , attained through relaxed efforts.

''Wuwei'' in Chan Buddhism

In early Chinese Buddhism, ''wuwei'' was used as a translation of nirvāṇa, which was understood to be unproduced and inactive. Although this translation was eventually abandoned in favor of ''niepan,'' a phonetic transliteration of nirvāṇa, ''wuwei'' continued to be used in Chinese Buddhist scholastic contexts as a translation of the Sanskrit term ''asaṃskṛta'', or "unconditioned." In Chan sources, ''wuwei'' retains its native Chinese sense of "nonaction" and "without intent," although the term can also have multiple senses in one and the same source. Perhaps the earliest occurrence of the term in Chan can be found in the '' Two Entrances and Four Practices'' of Bodhidharma, located in the ''Long Scroll'' (dubbed the "Bodhidharma Anthology" by Jeffrey Broughton), which contains the earliest known records of Chan. There Bodhidharma says, "Principle is the obverse of the conventional; quiet mind and practice no-action; forms follow the turnings of fate; the ten thousand existences are thus void; wish for nothing."

Henrik Sorensen observes that ''wuwei'' and other concepts commonly associated with Daoism appear in the two Oxhead School texts, the ''Jueguan lun'' (Treatise on Cutting Off Contemplation) and the '' Xin Ming'' (Mind Inscription). For example, the ''Xin Ming'' says:

Enjoying the Dao is calming
Wandering at ease in the truly real
Nothing to do nothing to attain
Relying on nothing, appearing naturally

According to Robert Sharf, the above mentioned ''Jueguan lun'' (Treatise on Cutting Off Contemplation) and the ''Xin Ming'' (Mind Inscription) can be grouped together with a number of other early Chan texts, probably composed sometime during the eighth or ninth century, which exhibit a similarity of lexical terms and doctrinal content. This group of texts includes such works as the ''Xinwang Ming'' (Mind King Inscription) and the well known '' Xinxin Ming'' (Faith-Mind Inscription), as well as the Dunhuang manuscript, the ''Wuxin lun'' (Treatise on No-Mind). ''Wuwei'' occurs in these texts as well, as the ''Xinwang Ming'' says, "The Dharma-jewel of unbiased activity / Is neither shallow nor profound," and in the ''Xinxin Ming'' one finds: "The wise are without interfering activity / Foolish men entangle themselves." The ''Wuxin lun'' says, "Engaged in actions day in and day out, do without doing—which is nothing other than no-mind," and "No perception, no activity: that’s ''wuwei.''" According to Urs App, the use of ''wuwei'' here resembles that of chapter 3 of the ''Daodejing'', which says, " he perfect manacts without acting; thus everything is taken care of."

''Wuwei'' also occurs several times in another text associated with the Oxhead School known as the ''Baozang lun'' (Treasure Store Treatise), where it appears alongside the East Asian philosophical concept of ''ganying'', or "sympathetic resonance." In a Buddhist context, this relates to the idea of ''ying-shen,'' the resonant or response body of a Buddha. It is that by which the Buddhist sage is able to respond to external stimuli and the needs of suffering beings spontaneously and "without any premeditation or will of his own." According to Sharf, this combines the early Chinese ideal of the sage-king with Indian Buddhist notions of Bodhi as free of karmic activity. The ''Baozang lun'' says: "Some call it holy, some call it brilliant; there are many ways to refer to it, as each employs its own name. But in reality its essential principle is nonaction, and its appearance is the absence of attributes." Sharf observes that the ''Baozang lun'' contains influences from Twofold Mystery Daoism (''ch’ung-hsüan'').

''Wuwei'' appears in verses attributed to the Liang dynasty figure Baozhi. For example: "The uncontrived Great Way is natural and spontaneous; you don't need to use your mind to figure it out." It also appears in the famous '' Zhengdao ge'' (Song of Attaining the Way), attributed to Huineng's disciple Yongjia Xuanjue: "A man of the Way, awakening left behind, selfless, at ease Does not eliminate foolish thoughts, nor seeks the real." According to Jinhua Jia, although the above have been attributed to Baozhi of the Liang and Yongjia Xuanjue respectively, these are likely products of the Hongzhou school of Chan, which flourished during the Tang dynasty.

In other Chan sources one can also find the similar term, ''wú shì'' (), often translated as "nothing-to-do," but which also has the meaning of no affairs, no concerns, no matters, and no business. For instance, Huangbo Xiyun states, "the person of the Way is the one who has nothing to do [''wú shì''], who has no mind at all and no doctrine to preach. Having nothing to do, such a person lives at ease." Likewise, Huangbo's student Linji Yixuan says, "Followers of the Way, as to buddhadharma, no effort is necessary. You have only to be ordinary, with nothing to do—defecating, urinating, wearing clothes, eating food, and lying down when tired." Linji also connects non-doing with "turning one's light around" (). That is, according to Linji, when one stops seeking externally and turns one's own light in upon oneself, one will on that very instant have nothing to do.

In recent times, the Korean Sŏn master Daehaeng (1927–2012) taught "doing without doing" (''ham i ŏpsi handa''). According to her view, the fundamental reality, or natural state, is a nondual whole in which everything functions together as one. As such, no separate doer exists, since everything is "happening naturally, without a conscious effort on the part of the individual." In terms of a method of spiritual cultivation, "doing without doing" entails letting go of the thought of the individual as a separate doer. For Daehaeng, this requires faith in one's foundation, or fundamental mind, which is connected to all phenomena and functions together with them in a nondual way. As one knows that this foundation is doing all things, one entrusts everything to it with the faith that it is taking care of whatever arises in one's life. Thus, one is able to let go naturally and automatically. Daehaeng said:

When you let go unconditionally and go forward, the front thought disappears and the thought after that also disappears. Thus you can let go with mindless mind, without the thought of letting go. Only when you are able to do this, will you understand the principle that there is no hindrance anywhere, that you do not block coming things and do not hold leaving things, and the principle of doing without doing.

In political theory

Unable to find his philosopher-king, Confucius placed his hope in virtuous ministers. Apart from the Confucian ruler's "divine essence" (''ling'') "ensuring the fecundity of his people" and fertility of the soil, Creel notes that he was also assisted by "five servants", who "performed the active functions of government".; Xun Kuang's '' Xunzi'', a Confucian adaptation to Qin Legalism, defines the ruler in much the same sense, saying that the ruler "need only correct his person" because the "abilities of the ruler appear in his appointment of men to office": namely, appraising virtue and causing others to perform.

Important information lay in the recovery of the fragments of administrator Shen Buhai. Shen portrays Yao as using Fa (administrative method) in the selection and evaluation of men. Though not a conclusive argument against proto-Daoist influence, Shen's Daoist terms do not show evidence of Daoist usage (Confucianism also uses terms like 'Dao', meaning the 'Way' of government), lacking any metaphysical connotation. The later Legalist book, the ''Han Feizi'' has a commentary on the ''Daodejing'', but references Shen Buhai rather than Laozi for this usage.

Shen is credited with the dictum "The Sage ruler relies on method and does not rely on wisdom; he relies on technique, not on persuasions", and used the term ''wu wei'' to mean that the ruler, though vigilant, should not interfere with the duties of his ministers, saying "One who has the right way of government does not perform the functions of the five (aka various) officials, and yet is the master of the government".

Since the bulk of both the ''Daodejing'' and ''Zhuangzi'' appear to have been composed at a later point, Creel argued that it may therefore be assumed that Shen influenced them, much of both appearing to be counter-arguments against Legalist controls. The "Way of Heaven" chapter of the ''Zhuangzi'' seems to follow Shen Buhai down to the detail, saying "Superiors must be without action in-order to control the world; inferiors must be active in-order to be employed in the world's business..." and to paraphrase, that foundation and principle are the responsibility of the superior, superstructure and details that of the minister, but then goes on to attack Shen's administrative details as non-essential.

Elsewhere, the ''Zhuangzi'' references another Legalist, Shen Dao, as impartial and lacking selfishness, his "great way embracing all things".

Non-action by the ruler

Shen Buhai argued that if the government were organized and supervised relying on proper method (Fa), the ruler needs to do little – and must do little. Apparently paraphrasing the Analects, Shen did not consider the relationship between ruler and minister antagonistic necessarily, but still believed that the ruler's most able ministers were his greatest danger, and was convinced that it was impossible to make them loyal without techniques. Sinologist Herrlee G. Creel explains: "The ruler's subjects are so numerous, and so on alert to discover his weaknesses and get the better of him, that it is hopeless for him alone as one man to try to learn their characteristics and control them by his knowledge... the ruler must refrain from taking the initiative, and from making himself conspicuous – and therefore vulnerable – by taking any overt action."

Emphasizing the use of administrative methods (''Fa'') in secrecy, Shen Buhai portrays the ruler as putting up a front to hide his weaknesses and dependence on his advisers. Shen therefore advises the ruler to keep his own counsel, hide his motivations, and conceal his tracks in inaction, availing himself of an appearance of stupidity and insufficiency. Shen says:

Acting through ''Fa'', the ruler conceals his intentions, likes and dislikes, skills and opinions. Not acting himself, he can avoid being manipulated. The ruler plays no active role in governmental functions. He should not use his talent even if he has it. Not using his own skills, he is better able to secure the services of capable functionaries. Creel argues that not getting involved in details allowed Shen's ruler to "truly rule", because it leaves him free to supervise the government without interfering, maintaining his perspective. Seeing and hearing independently, the ruler is able to make decisions independently, and is, Shen says, able to rule the world thereby.

This ''wu wei'' might be said to end up the political theory of the "Legalists", if not becoming their general term for political strategy, playing a "crucial role in the promotion of the autocratic tradition of the Chinese polity". The (qualified) non-action of the ruler ensures his power and the stability of the polity.

Non-action in statecraft

Shen Buhai insisted that the ruler must be fully informed of the state of his realm, but couldn't afford to get caught up in details and in an ideal situation need listen to no one. Listening to his courtiers might interfere with promotions, and he does not, as Sinologist Herrlee G. Creel says, have the time to do so. The way to see and hear independently is the grouping together of particulars into categories using mechanical or operational method (Fa). On the contrary the ruler's eyes and ears will make him "deaf and blind" (unable to obtain accurate information). Seeing and hearing independently, the ruler is able to make decisions independently, and is, Shen says, able to rule the world thereby.

Despite this, Shen's method of appointment, ''Ming-shih'', advises a particular method for listening to petitioners in the final analyses, which would be articulated as Xing-Ming by Han Fei. In the Han dynasty secretaries of government who had charge of the records of decisions in criminal matters were called Xing-Ming, which Sima Qian (145 or 135 – 86 BC) and Liu Xiang (77–6 BC) attributed to the doctrine of Shen Buhai (400 – ). Liu Xiang goes as far as to define Shen Buhai's doctrine as Xing-Ming. Rather than having to look for "good" men, ming-shih or xing-ming can seek the right man for a particular post by comparing his reputation with real conduct (xing "form" or shih "reality"), though doing so implies a total organizational knowledge of the regime.

More simply though, one can allow ministers to "name" themselves through accounts of specific cost and time frame, leaving their definition to competing ministers. Claims or utterances "bind the speaker to the realization a job" (Makeham). This was the doctrine, with subtle differences, favoured by Han Fei. Favoring exactness, it combats the tendency to promise too much. The correct articulation of is considered crucial to the realization of projects.

Shen resolved hair-splitting litigation through ''wu wei'', or not getting involved, making an official's words his own responsibility. Shen Buhai says, "The ruler controls the policy, the ministers manage affairs. To speak ten times and ten times be right, to act a hundred times and a hundred times succeed – this is the business of one who serves another as minister; it is not the way to rule." The correlation between ''wu wei'' and ming-shih likely informed the Taoist conception of the formless Tao that "gives rise to the ten thousand things."

Yin (passive mindfulness)

Adherence to the use of technique in governing requires the ruler not engage in any interference or subjective consideration. Sinologist John Makeham explains: "assessing words and deeds requires the ruler's dispassionate attention; (yin is) the skill or technique of making one's mind a tabula rasa, non-committaly taking note of all the details of a man's claims and then objectively comparing his achievements of the original claims."

A commentary to the Shiji cites a now-lost book as quoting Shen Buhai saying: "By employing (yin), 'passive mindfulness', in overseeing and keeping account of his vassals, accountability is deeply engraved." The ''Guanzi'' similarly says: "Yin is the way of non-action. Yin is neither to add to nor to detract from anything. To give something a name strictly on the basis of its form – this is the Method of yin." Yin also aimed at concealing the ruler's intentions, likes and opinions.

Shen Dao

Shen Dao espouses an impersonal administration in much the same sense as Shen Buhai, and argued for ''wu wei'', or the non action of the ruler, along the same lines, saying

Shen Dao eschews appointment by interview in favour of a mechanical distribution apportioning every person according to their achievement. Linking administrative methods or standards to the notion of impartial objectivity associated with universal interest, and reframing the language of the old ritual order to fit a universal, imperial and highly bureaucratized state, Shen cautions the ruler against relying on his own personal judgment, contrasting personal opinions with the merit of the objective standard as preventing personal judgements or opinions from being exercised. Personal opinions destroy standards, and Shen Dao's ruler therefore "does not show favoritism toward a single person".

Han Fei

Devoting the entirety of Chapter 14, "How to Love the Ministers", to "persuading the ruler to be ruthless to his ministers", Han Fei's enlightened ruler strikes terror into his ministers by doing nothing (wu wei). The qualities of a ruler, his "mental power, moral excellence and physical prowess" are irrelevant. He discards his private reason and morality, and shows no personal feelings. What is important is his method of government. Fa (administrative standards) require no perfection on the part of the ruler.

If the Han Fei's use of ''wu wei'' was derivative of proto-Daoist folk religion, its Dao nonetheless emphasizes autocracy ("Tao does not identify with anything but it non-self, the ruler does not identify with the ministers"). Accepting that Han Fei applies ''wu wei'' specifically to statecraft, professors Xing Lu argues that Han Fei still considered ''wu wei'' is still a virtue. As Han Fei says, "by virtue (De) of resting empty and reposed, he waits for the course of nature to force or unfold itself."

The ''Han Feizi''s commentary on the Daodejing asserts that perspectiveless knowledge – an absolute point of view – is possible.

Han dynasty

Legalism dominated the intellectual life of the Qin and early Han together with Daoism. Early Han dynasty Emperors like Emperor Jing (r. 157–141 BCE) would be steeped in a Daoistic laissez-faire. But Shen Buhai's book would be widely studied even from the beginning of the Han era. Jia Yi's (200–168 AD) Hsin-shu, undoubtedly influenced by the "Legalists", describes Shen Buhai's techniques as methods of applying the Dao, or virtue, bringing together Confucian and Daoist discourses under the imagery of the Zhuangzi. Many later texts, for instance in Huang-Lao, use similar images to describe the quiescent attitude of the ruler.
The Huang-Lao text ''Huainanzi'' (Western Han dynasty 206 B.C. – 9 A.D.), although oriented toward state interest, would go on to include naturalist arguments in favour of rule by worthies on the basis that one needs their competence for such things as diplomacy, and defines ''wu wei'' as follows:

The Huang–Lao text Jing fa says:

Modern

Philosopher Alan Watts believed that ''wu wei'' can be described as "not-forcing." 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."

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.Brown, R.S. (2020)
''Groundwork for a Transpersonal Psychoanalysis: Spirituality, Relationship, and Participation''
Abingdon, UK; New York: Routledge. Brown links ''wu wei'' with the psychoanalytic notion of enactment.

See also

* No-mind
*Flow (psychology)
* Willpower paradox
* Sprezzatura
*Sahaja
*Samyama
* Zuhd

Notes

References

Citations

General sources

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External links

"Taoism – The Wu-Wei Principle"
by Ted Kardash. Jade Dragon Online, June 1998.


by David Loy. ''Philosophy East and West'', Vol. 35, No. 1 (January 1985) pp. 73–87. .

"Wu-Wei in Europe. A Study of Eurasian Economic Thought"
by Christian Gerlach. London School of Economics 2005.

"Wú wéi translations and usages in Buddhism"
��''Digital Dictionary of Buddhism''


from the ''Dao de Jing''

Daoism.net
��The Entire Philosophy of Laozi's Daodejing Explained in Common Sense

Laozi, Libertarianism & Wu-wei(Non-interference) Analysis老子的无为详解

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