The concept of “wuwei(non-action)” is rather familiar to the humankind. It underlies in all freedom, individuality and creativity. By practicing “wuwei”, each individual with his unique style can live a fulfilling life in harmony. From “wuwei”, the society and the corporate have developed its own culture and custom, and in large, each country in this globalized world was able to attain its own unique culture and traditions. However the world these days is filled wars and conflicts, competition and arrogation, superiority and discrimination, stubbornness and self-righteousness, and lamentably the true meaning of “wuwei” has been dismissed. Artificial interference and excessive and coercive actions have become prevalent and have provoked wars and conflicts around the world, caused natural disasters, sprouted materialism and depreciated human values leading to suicides and many other disastrous side effects. As we are all aware, “wuwei“, the core idea of Lao-Zhuangzi, can be defined as the non-action of unnecessary and excessive things and not as an act of idleness that neglects what needs to be done. Unfortunately this definition often generates confusion that with wuwei as a life-goal one can follow the natural way of living by not doing anything and enjoy life. However this kind of confusion is what makes human feel powerless and fall into nihilism, which is what Zhuangzi is also very strongly against. Therefore in this paper the genuine meaning of Zhuangzi‘s “wuwei” will be determined and its implications will be discussed. Then the true act of “wuwei” in the modern world will be revisited. As a result we may be able to comprehend the teaching of Zhuangzi that the act of human beings does not align with the Chinese character “治: to discipline and control” but rather with the character“ 德: moral and virtue“: a wisdom that we, in this present-day, should pay close attention to.

• 姜 哲 基(산동대학 력사문화학원， 박사과정생) | 강 철 기