Wu wei

Wu wei, literally “not doing” or “without action”, is the Daoist ideal of action that does not force. It does not mean doing nothing, but acting without contrivance, effort against the grain, or self-assertion: as water flows around obstacles, or as a skilled craftsman works without strain. The Daodejing says that the Dao does nothing, yet nothing is left undone.

For the Daodejing, wu wei is also a principle of government: the best ruler intervenes least, and the people say they did it themselves. The Zhuangzi illustrates it with stories of skill, above all Cook Ding, who carves an ox so in accord with its natural structure that his knife never dulls.

Wu wei was shared, in different forms, by other Chinese schools, including the Confucians, for whom the sage-king rules by virtue rather than force. Modern scholars describe it as a state of effortless, spontaneous action, and have compared it with flow in psychology and with the Bhagavad Gītā’s action without attachment to its fruits.