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Wu wei means -- in Chinese -- non-doing or'doing nothing'. It sounds like a nice invitation to unwind or worse, fall into laziness or apathy. Yet this idea is key to the noblest form of action according to the doctrine of Daoism -- and is still in the heart of what it means to follow Dao or The Way. According to kokoro of Daoism, the Dao De Jing:'The Way never acts yet nothing is left undone'. It doesn't meant not behaving, it signifies'effortless activity' or''actionless action'. It means being at peace while engaged in the many hectic activities so that you can carry out these with maximum ability and efficiency. Something of this significance of wu wei is recorded when we speak of being'in the zone' -- at one with what we are doing, in a state of deep concentration and stream.Wu wei is closely joined to the Daoist reverence for the natural universe, for it means trying to make our behavior as spontaneous and inescapable as certain all-natural processes, and also to make sure that we are swimming with rather than against currents. Continuing are to be like the bamboo that bends in the wind or the plant that adjusts itself to the shape of a tree. Wu wei involves letting go of ideals which we might otherwise try to force too violently onto matters; it invites us instead to react to the true needs of scenarios, which often only to be observed once we put our own ego-driven plans aside. What can follow is a loss of self-consciousness, a new unity between the self and its environment, which releases an energy that is ordinarily held back by an overly aggressive, wilful fashion of thinking.But none of this means we will not have the ability to alter or affect things if we try for wu wei. The Dao De Jing points out that we should be like water, which is'submissive and weak' and'yet which can not be surpassed for assaulting what's hard and powerful'. Through gentle persistence and a compliance with the particular shape of a problem, an obstacle can be worked round and gradually eroded.The thought of achieving the greatest effects by a wise strategic passivity was fundamental to Chinese notions of politics, diplomacy and business. From the guides on wisdom produced by Daoists, we're repeatedly told that instead of enforce a strategy or version on a circumstance, we should let others act frantically, and then lightly adjust ourselves because we see the direction that things have evolved in.In China's Tang dynasty, many poets likened wu wei into the best aspects of being drunk. It wasn't alcoholism they were encouraging, but the decrease in rigidity and stress that comes with being a bit drunk, and that can help us to accomplish certain tasks. 1 poet contrasted someone inspired by wu wei to a drunk man who drops uninjured from a cart -- these is their spiritual momentum they are unaffected by injuries and misfortunes which may break those of a more controlled and controlling mindset.Theories of painting from the Tang period onwards produced wu wei fundamental to artistic practice. As opposed to laboriously attempting to replicate nature reliably, the artist should find nature within themselves and concede to its calls. The painter's job is not to imitate the external surface of things, but to present the qi or'soul' of things like mountains, trees, rivers and birds by sensing some of the spirit in themselves -- then letting it stream out through the brush on silk or paper.