Wu

views updated May 14 2018

Wu (Chin., ‘not/non-being’). Key concept in Taoism, denoting the absence of qualities perceivable by the senses, but not ‘non-existent’. It is the basic characteristic of Tao, whose emptiness of attributes does not deprive it of character and effect. To understand the emptiness of character in the Tao which nevertheless is its truth is to be drawn into becoming an expression of the same in one's own life, through active inactivity (wu-wei). Thus wu may also be the word through which the state of that realization is expressed.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions JOHN BOWKER

WU

views updated Jun 11 2018

WU British vehicle registration for Leeds
• Western Union

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH