Effortless Action: Wu-Wei as Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual Ideal in Early China

by Edward Slingerland

Book Overview

This book presents a systematic account of the role of the personal spiritual ideal of wu-wei--literally "no doing," but better rendered as "effortless action"--in early Chinese thought. Edward Slingerland's analysis shows that wu-wei represents the most general of a set of conceptual metaphors having to do with a state of effortless ease and unself-consciousness. This concept of effortlessness, he contends, serves as a common ideal for both Daoist...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195314875
• ISBN13: 9780195314878
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"