pu

pu, in the Daodejing—a classic of Chinese philosophy, religion, and literature composed about 300 bce—the major metaphor for a state of accord with the spontaneous (ziran) unfolding of the cosmos. The Daodejing advises rulers to cultivate this state in order to govern effectively.

During the Warring States period (475–221 bce) of Chinese history, various philosophical schools proposed competing platforms for good government, each of which focused on the role of the ruler. Early Daoists promoted a philosophy of government by nonaction (wuwei). Rather than anarchism or quietism, this meant instead taking no human action contrary to the natural fluctuation of the cosmic Way (Dao). On this point the daojia thinkers distinguished themselves from proponents of Confucianism, who stressed the efficacy of ritualized behaviour (li) in promoting humane (ren) government and maintaining the state. Against the Confucians’ metaphor of the ritual cutting, filing, carving, and polishing of jade, the Daoists promoted “unhewn wood” (pu), which, though unrefined, “could not be mastered by anyone in the world.” The sage kings of antiquity, according to the Daoists, were effective rulers not because they mastered bureaucracy and legislation but because they practiced simplicity (pu) and cultivated themselves in accordance with the spontaneous Way. In doing so they made themselves more responsive to their people’s needs and better able to fulfill their own natural potential.