The reason non‑action and non‑thinking are valued for attaining emptiness is that the mind remains unconstrained by external compulsions.
Men without statecraft deliberately treat non‑action and non‑thinking as emptiness. Those who intentionally pursue emptiness through non‑action and non‑thinking constantly cling to the thought of being empty – thus they are constrained by the very desire for emptiness.
Emptiness means the mind is free from all constraint. To be constrained by the pursuit of emptiness is not true emptiness.
Truly empty minds practice non‑action without treating non‑action as a rigid rule. Free from rigid adherence to non‑action, the mind becomes empty; with emptiness, inner virtue flourishes. Flourishing virtue is the highest virtue.
Hence the saying: “The highest virtue practices non‑action, yet leaves nothing undone.”
Note
This passage offers a refined Legalist‑Daoist insight: true emptiness and non‑action are spontaneous mental freedom, not rigid rules. Only natural non‑action yields flourishing virtue and comprehensive state governance.
Late Warring‑States Legalist philosopher. This passage comes from Explaining Laozi (Jie Lao), his commentary on the Dao De Jing. He refines Daoist ideas of emptiness and non‑action into practical mental cultivation for autocratic rulers.
True Emptiness vs Artificial Emptiness
Han Fei distinguishes genuine inner mental freedom from forced, deliberate “emptiness” practiced as a dogma. Forcing non‑action traps the mind rather than freeing it.
Non‑action (Wu‑wei) re‑interpreted
Traditional Daoist wu‑wei means following natural spontaneity. Han Fei re‑defines it for rulers: avoid arbitrary personal will and rigid dogma to govern effectively.
The Highest Virtue Practices Non‑action
A core Dao De Jing maxim, reinterpreted politically: the ruler who lets go of forced personal striving achieves all‑encompassing governance naturally.
所以貴無為無思為虛者，謂其意無所制也。夫無術者，故以無為無思為虛也。夫故以無為無思為虛者，其意常不忘虛，是制於為虛也。虛者，謂其意無所制也。今制於為虛，是不虛也。虛者之無為也，不以無為為有常，不以無為為有常則虛，虛則德盛，德盛之謂上德，故曰：「上德無為而無不為也。」
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