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Daoist / Taoist Tenet
無為 or “Wu Wei” is a Daoist (Taoist) tenet that speaks to the idea of letting nature take its course.
Some will say it's about knowing when to take action and when not to. In reality, it's more about not going against the flow. What will happen is controlled by the Dao (Tao), for which one who follows the Dao will not resist or struggle against.
There is a lot more to this concept, but chances are, if you are looking for this entry, you already know the expanded concept.
Warning: Outside of the Daoist context, this means idleness or inactivity (especially in Japanese, where not everyone knows this as a Daoist concept).
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your wu wei search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
魏 see styles |
wèi wei4 wei gi ぎ |
tower over a palace gateway (old) (1) (hist) (See 三国・2,曹魏) Wei (kingdom in China during the Three Kingdoms period; 220-266 CE); Cao Wei; (2) (hist) Wei (kingdom in China during the Warring States period; 403-225 BCE); (given name) Takashi |
北魏 see styles |
běi wèi bei3 wei4 pei wei hokugi ほくぎ |
Wei of the Northern Dynasties (386-534), founded by the Tuoba 拓跋 branch of Xianbei 鮮卑|鲜卑 (hist) Northern Wei dynasty (of China; 386-535) the Northern Wei |
曹丕 see styles |
cáo pī cao2 pi1 ts`ao p`i tsao pi souhi / sohi そうひ |
Cao Pi (187-226), second son of Cao Cao 曹操, king then emperor of Cao Wei 曹魏 from 220, ruled as Emperor Wen 魏文帝, also a noted calligrapher (person) Cao Pi (187-226 CE; first emperor of Cao Wei); Emperor Wen of Wei |
曹魏 see styles |
cáo wèi cao2 wei4 ts`ao wei tsao wei sougi / sogi そうぎ |
Cao Wei, the most powerful of the Three Kingdoms, established as a dynasty in 220 by Cao Pi 曹丕, son of Cao Cao, replaced by Jin dynasty in 265 (hist) (See 魏・1) Cao Wei (kingdom in China during the Three Kingdoms period; 220-266); Wei |
東魏 东魏 see styles |
dōng wèi dong1 wei4 tung wei tougi / togi とうぎ |
Eastern Wei of the Northern dynasties (534-550), formed from the break-up of Wei of the Northern Dynasties 北魏 Eastern Wei dynasty (of China; 534-550) |
西魏 see styles |
xī wèi xi1 wei4 hsi wei seigi / segi せいぎ |
Western Wei of the Northern dynasties (535-557), formed from the break-up of Wei of the Northern Dynasties 北魏 (hist) Western Wei dynasty (of China; 535-557) |
魏國 魏国 see styles |
wèi guó wei4 guo2 wei kuo |
Wei State (407-225 BC), one of the Seven Hero States of the Warring States 戰國七雄|战国七雄; Wei State or Cao Wei 曹魏 (220-265), the most powerful of the Three Kingdoms |
三曹 see styles |
sān cáo san1 cao2 san ts`ao san tsao sansou / sanso さんそう |
the Three Caos (Cao Cao 曹操 and his sons Cao Pi 曹丕 and Cao Zhi 曹植), who established the Wei or Cao Wei dynasty 曹魏, and were all three noted poets and calligraphers sergeant (JSDF) |
尉繚 尉缭 see styles |
wèi liáo wei4 liao2 wei liao |
Wei Lao (c. 450 BC, dates of birth and death unknown), advisor to the first Qin emperor Qin Shihuang 秦始皇[Qin2 Shi3 huang2], possible author of the Wei Liaozi 尉繚子|尉缭子[Wei4 Liao2 zi5] text on military strategy |
曹操 see styles |
cáo cāo cao2 cao1 ts`ao ts`ao tsao tsao sousou / soso そうそう |
Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei 曹魏, father of Emperor Cao Pi 曹丕; the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义 (person) Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei, father of Emperor Cao Pi; the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms |
離微 离微 see styles |
lí wēi li2 wei1 li wei rimi |
Apart from all the phenomenal; li is intp. as spirit, wei as its subtle, mysterious functioning; li is also intp. as nirvana in character, wei as prajñā , or intelligence, knowledge, discrimination. |
魏巍 see styles |
wèi wēi wei4 wei1 wei wei |
Wei Wei (1920-2008), novelist and poet, author of award-winning novel The East 東方|东方 about the Korean war |
魏收 see styles |
wèi shōu wei4 shou1 wei shou |
Wei Shou (506-572), writer and historian of Northern dynasty Qi 北齊|北齐[Bei3 Qi2], compiler of History of Wei of the Northern dynasties 魏書|魏书[Wei4 shu1] |
魏書 魏书 see styles |
wèi shū wei4 shu1 wei shu gisho ぎしょ |
History of Wei of the Northern Dynasties, tenth of the 24 dynastic histories 二十四史[Er4 shi2 si4 Shi3], compiled by Wei Shou 魏收[Wei4 Shou1] in 554 during Northern Qi Dynasty 北齊|北齐[Bei3 Qi2], 114 scrolls (personal name) Gisho |
尉繚子 尉缭子 see styles |
wèi liáo zi wei4 liao2 zi5 wei liao tzu |
Wei Liaozi, one of the Seven Military Classics of ancient China 武經七書|武经七书[Wu3 jing1 Qi1 shu1], possibly written by Wei Liao 尉繚|尉缭[Wei4 Liao2] during the Warring States Period (475-220 BC) |
李衛公 李卫公 see styles |
lǐ wèi gōng li3 wei4 gong1 li wei kung |
Li Wei Gong; Duke Li of Wei, official title of Li Jing 李靖[Li3 Jing4] |
武經七書 武经七书 see styles |
wǔ jīng qī shū wu3 jing1 qi1 shu1 wu ching ch`i shu wu ching chi shu |
Seven Military Classics of ancient China viz "Six Secret Strategic Teachings" 六韜|六韬[Liu4 tao1], "Methods of Sima" 司馬法|司马法[Si1 ma3 Fa3], "The Art of War" 孫子兵法|孙子兵法[Sun1 zi3 Bing1 fa3], "Wuzi" 吳子|吴子[Wu2 zi3], "Wei Liaozi" 尉繚子|尉缭子[Wei4 Liao2 zi5], "Three Strategies of Huang Shigong" 黃石公三略|黄石公三略[Huang2 Shi2 gong1 San1 lu:e4] and "Duke Li of Wei Answering Emperor Taizong of Tang" 唐太宗李衛公問對|唐太宗李卫公问对[Tang2 Tai4 zong1 Li3 Wei4 Gong1 Wen4 dui4] |
杜威 see styles |
dù wēi du4 wei1 tu wei |
More info & calligraphy: Dewey |
魏徵 魏征 see styles |
wèi zhēng wei4 zheng1 wei cheng |
More info & calligraphy: Wei Zheng |
三國演義 三国演义 see styles |
sān guó yǎn yì san1 guo2 yan3 yi4 san kuo yen i |
More info & calligraphy: Romance of the Three Kingdoms |
僞 伪 see styles |
wěi wei3 wei gi |
variant of 偽|伪[wei3] False, counterfeit, forged. False or forged sūtras which were produced after the Wei dynasty; catalogues of these forged sūtras are given in various books. |
寪 see styles |
wěi wei3 wei |
surname Wei |
渭 see styles |
wèi wei4 wei |
the Wei River in Shaanxi through the Guanzhong Plain 關中平原|关中平原[Guan1 zhong1 Ping2 yuan2] |
灃 沣 see styles |
fēng feng1 feng |
rainy; place name in Shaanxi; Feng River in Shaanxi 陝西|陕西, tributary of Wei River 渭水[Wei4 Shui3] |
薳 䓕 see styles |
wěi wei3 wei |
surname Wei |
邙 see styles |
máng mang2 mang |
Mt Mang at Luoyang in Henan, with many Han, Wei and Jin dynasty royal tombs |
ゑい see styles |
ei / e ヱイ |
(given name) Ei; Wei |
ゑ以 see styles |
ei / e えい |
(given name) Ei; Wei |
三教 see styles |
sān jiào san1 jiao4 san chiao sankyou; sangyou / sankyo; sangyo さんきょう; さんぎょう |
the Three Doctrines (Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism) (1) Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism; the three religions; (2) Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism; (3) Buddhism, Shinto and Christianity; (given name) Mitsunori The three teachings, i.e. 儒, 佛 (or 釋), and 道Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism; or, 孔, 老, 釋 Confucianism, Taoism (aIso known as 神敎), and Buddhism. In Japan they are Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism. In Buddhism the term is applied to the three periods of Śākyamuni's own teaching, of which there are several definitions: (1) The Jiangnan 南中 School describe his teaching as (a) 漸progressive or gradual; (b) 頓 immediate, i.e. as one whole, especially in the 華嚴經; and (c) 不定 or indeterminate. (2) 光統 Guangtong, a writer of the Iater Wei dynasty, describes the three as (a) 漸 progressive for beginners, i.e. from impermanence to permanence, from the void to reality, etc.; (b) 頓 immediate for the more advanced; and (c) 圓complete, to the most advanced, i.e. the Huayan as above. (3) The 三時敎q.v. (4) The 南山 Southern school deals with (a) the 性空of Hīnayāna; (b) 相空of Mahāyāna; and (c) 唯識圓 the perfect idealism. v. 行事鈔中 4. Tiantai accepts the division of 漸, 頓, and 不定 for pre-Lotus teaching, but adopts 漸 gradual, 頓 immediate, and 圓 perfect, with the Lotus as the perfect teaching; it also has the division of 三藏敎 , 通敎 , and 別敎 q.v. |
三武 see styles |
sān wǔ san1 wu3 san wu mitsutake みつたけ |
(personal name) Mitsutake The three emperors Wu who persecuted Buddhism: 太武 of the Wei dynasty A.D. 424-452; 武帝 of the Zhou A.D. 561-578; 武宗 of the Tang A.D. 841-7. |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Wu Wei Without Action | 無為 无为 | mui | wú wéi / wu2 wei2 / wu wei / wuwei | |
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.
Some people may refer to this entry as Wu Wei Kanji, Wu Wei Characters, Wu Wei in Mandarin Chinese, Wu Wei Characters, Wu Wei in Chinese Writing, Wu Wei in Japanese Writing, Wu Wei in Asian Writing, Wu Wei Ideograms, Chinese Wu Wei symbols, Wu Wei Hieroglyphics, Wu Wei Glyphs, Wu Wei in Chinese Letters, Wu Wei Hanzi, Wu Wei in Japanese Kanji, Wu Wei Pictograms, Wu Wei in the Chinese Written-Language, or Wu Wei in the Japanese Written-Language.
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