The Concept of 無為(Wu Wei)

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 3 by Cobie

[SodaChanh]

5 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

Experience is different from the true definition of Wu Wei. At least, not by interpreting the characters by themselves anyway.

 

 

You are wrong. 

 

It is a lived experience. Nothing conceptual. 

[ChiDragon]

16 minutes ago, Cobie said:

bring together parts or combine to create (something).

It is 從 "無" 到 "有", from the "invisible to "visible". You have to interpret it philosophically. Tao, sometimes, is formless and sometimes not. LaoTze told us that in Chapter 1 to begin with!

 

1. 有物混成 … 1. A thing formed;

Did you see something was add to form Tao in line 1?
Perhaps the English translators thought it about the same way as you do. That was why they added chaos to blend in with Tao.

 

 

Edited January 3 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

5 minutes ago, SodaChanh said:

You are wrong. 

It is a lived experience. Nothing conceptual. 

Sorry, how wrong I was for throwing the book at you!

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 3 by Cobie

[ChiDragon]

.

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 3 by Cobie

[ChiDragon]

.

 

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

.
 

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 3 by Cobie

[ChiDragon]

.

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 3 by Cobie

[ChiDragon]

.

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 3 by Cobie

[ChiDragon]

.

 

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

.

Edited January 4 by Cobie

[Apech]

1 hour ago, ChiDragon said:

Chapter 25
1. 有物混成
2. 先天地生
3. 寂兮寥兮
4. 獨立而不改
5. 周行而不殆
6. 可以為天地母
7. 吾不知其名
8. 強字之曰"道"
9. 強為之名曰"大"
10. 大曰逝
11. 逝曰遠
12. 遠曰反
13. 故道大
14. 天大
15. 地大
16. 人亦大
17. 域中有四大
18. 而人居其一焉
19. 人法地
20. 地法天
21. 天法道
22. 道法自然

1. A thing formed;
2. Before heaven and earth were born;
3. Soundless and formless;
4. Independent but unchangeable;
5. Orbiting but never exhaust;
6. It may be the mother of heaven and earth.
7. I don't know its name.
8. I'm reluctantly calling it "Tao".
9. I'm even more reluctant to have the name "Big" for it.
10.Big but dynamic;
11.Dynamic but far;
12.Far but reciprocating.
13.Therefore, Tao is great.
14.Sky is great.
15.Earth is great.
16.Human is great.
17.In space, there are four great's;
18.Thus human is one of them here.
19.Human follows Earth.
20.Earth follows Heaven.
21.Heaven follows Tao.
22.Tao follows its own nature

How are you translating the ‘hun’ in line one?

[ChiDragon]

1 hour ago, Apech said:

How are you translating the ‘hun’ in line one?

 

Chapter 25

1.有物混成

2.先天地生

3.寂兮寥兮

7.吾不知其名
8.強字之曰"道"

1. A thing formed

2. Before heaven and earth were born;

3. Soundless and formless

7. I don't know its name.
8. I'm reluctantly calling it "Tao".

The character混 means mix; blend; integrate, form.

 

First of all, let's see what the abvoe lines say:
There is a thing was mixed/blend/integrate/formed together before the existence of sky/heaven and earth. It is soundless and formless. I don't know its name. So, I just have to make up a name for it and call it Tao.

From the above description, the thing was not a solid physical thing. It is there but invisible. This was substantiated by the introduction of Tao in Chapter 1.

3. 無，名天地之始。
4. 有，名萬物之母。
5. 故常無，欲以觀其妙。
6. 常有，欲以觀其徼

 

3. Invisible, was a name given to Tao at the origin of sky and earth.
4. Visible, was a name given to Tao as the mother of all things.
5. Hence, when Tao is always invisible, one would grok its quale.
6. When Tao is always visible, one would observe its boundary.

 

Edited January 4 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

18 hours ago, Cobie said:

@ChiDragon very well, it’s your thread. All entries deleted. No worries. 
 

 

Mods, would you remove the empty posts. Thank you!

[ChiDragon]

On 1/3/2026 at 7:21 AM, SodaChanh said:

Has nothing to with nature as animals, forests etc. 

In general, anything that is out of the control by human, then it is by nature.

[Cobie]

 

On 03/01/2026 at 9:40 PM, ChiDragon said:

… 2. 道德: morality …

The name of the DDJ is  道德經  i.e.  “道德: morality” 經  i.e. Morality book. The DDJ is a a book about morality. 
 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Cobie