無為 in Chinese / Japanese...

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Wu Wei / Without Action

Daoist / Taoist Tenet

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wú wéi

mui

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.

You can think of 無為 as the Chinese way to express “laissez-faire.”

There is a lot more to this concept, but 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, though it does pair well with the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi).

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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 無為 search...

Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese	Pronunciation Romanization	Simple Dictionary Definition
無為无为 see styles	wú wéi wu2 wei2 wu wei mui むい	More info & calligraphy: Wu Wei / Without Action the Daoist doctrine of inaction; let things take their own course; laissez-faire (adj-na,adj-no,n) idleness; inactivity; (female given name) Mui
無為市无为市 see styles	wú wéi shì wu2 wei2 shi4 wu wei shih	無為市 Custom Scroll Wuwei, a county-level city in Wuhu 蕪湖\|芜湖[Wu2hu2], Anhui
無為縣无为县 see styles	wú wéi xiàn wu2 wei2 xian4 wu wei hsien	無為縣 Custom Scroll Wuwei county in Chaohu 巢湖[Chao2 hu2], Anhui
無為信寺 see styles	muishinji むいしんじ	無為信寺 Custom Scroll (place-name) Muishinji
無為徒食 see styles	muitoshoku むいとしょく	無為徒食 Custom Scroll (noun/participle) (yoji) idling one's time away
無為無策 see styles	muimusaku むいむさく	無為無策 Custom Scroll (yoji) do-nothing, plan-nothing (government, etc.)
無為無聊 see styles	muiburyou; muimuryou / muiburyo; muimuryo むいぶりょう; むいむりょう	無為無聊 Custom Scroll (adj-na,adj-no,n) boredom; ennui; tedium; wearisomeness
無為無能 see styles	muimunou / muimuno むいむのう	無為無能 Custom Scroll (noun or adjectival noun) (yoji) idle and incompetent; accomplishing nothing significant nor being capable of doing so; lacking the talent to do anything but idle away one's time
無為自然 see styles	muishizen むいしぜん	無為自然 Custom Scroll (1) (yoji) abandoning artifice and just being oneself; doing nothing and taking things as they come; (2) {Buddh} unconditioned nature; unconditioned spontaneity
無策無為 see styles	musakumui むさくむい	無策無為 Custom Scroll (yoji) do-nothingism; do-nothing, plan-nothing (government, etc.); being an idle onlooker taking no steps to meet the situation
碌碌無為碌碌无为 see styles	lù lù wú wéi lu4 lu4 wu2 wei2 lu lu wu wei	碌碌無為 Custom Scroll unaccomplished; mediocre; feckless

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.