wu

wu

Fundamental Daoist philosophical concept. Wu (“not-being”), you (“being”), wuming (“the nameless”), and youming (“the named”) are interdependent and grow out of one another. Wu and you are two aspects of the dao. Not-being does not mean nothingness but rather the absence of perceptible qualities; in Laozi's view, it is superior to being. It is the void that harbours in itself all potentialities and without which even being lacks its efficacy. According to the scholar He Yan (d. 249), wu is beyond name and form and hence is absolute, complete, and capable of accomplishing anything. See also Daoism.