無為

• 読み: むい
• ローマ字: mui
• 漢字の分解: 無 (mu/bu) — without, nothing; 為 (i/tame) — action, doing
• 発音: /mɯ.i/

意味

Inaction; idleness; doing nothing. Also the Taoist philosophical concept of non-action (wu wei) — acting in harmony with nature without forced effort.

A noun and na-adjective. In everyday Japanese it means idle, purposeless time: 無為に過ごす ('to spend time idly'). In philosophical contexts it translates the Chinese concept of wu wei — effortless, natural action. The compound 無為無策 (mui-musaku, 'inaction and no strategy') describes a complete failure to act and is common in political criticism.

例文

1. 無為に時間を過ごすのは若者にとって大きな損失だ。
2. 政府の無為無策に国民は強い怒りを感じていた。
3. 老子は無為の思想を通じて自然との調和を説いた。

使い方ガイド

場面: philosophy, political criticism, literature

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

From 無 (mu, 'without, none') and 為 (i/tame, 'action, doing'). The compound expresses the Taoist state of non-doing, a key philosophical concept in East Asian thought.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Educated