wu wei
Appearance
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Chinese 無為 / 无为 (wúwéi).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]wu wei (uncountable)
- A state of effortless inaction, in Taoism or Chinese statecraft.
- 2013, Benjamin Noys, quoting Franco Berardi, Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism, Zero Books, →ISBN:
- These alternatives seem tepid, or even reactionary – take Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s invocation of a politics of exhaustion that would ‘become the beginning of a slow movement toward a “wu wei” civilization, based on withdrawal, and frugal expectations for life and consumption’.