This paper introduces the concept of nothingness as used in classical Daoist philosophy, building upon contemporary scholarship by offering a uniquely phenomenological reading of the term. It will be argued that the Chinese word wu bears upon two planes of reality concurrently: as ontological nothingness and as ontic nonbeing. Presenting wu in this dyadic manner is essential if we wish to avoid equating it with Dao itself, as many have been wont to do; rather, wu is the mystery that perpetually veils Dao while serving as the root and counter-balance to being, and yet, Dao also imbues things with wu to the extant that their physical makeup and usefulness, or lack thereof, can be traced back to their source in Dao. This does not only mean that Daoist cosmogony and metaphysics are inherently informed by nothingness/ nonbeing instead of being/beings but that it works to unground all moral and epistemological norms in play, a feat no other school of thought in ancient China could accomplish.Daoism sees within the rawness of nature and the expanse of heaven a means by which to expound the life-world of the myriad things therein. It has been variously called a school of monism, mysticism, skepticism, relativism, and fatalism, but these terms miss the mark in that they only touch upon the corners of its thought, leaving the core unaccounted for. As Daoist philosophy is concerned about letting go and letting be so as to achieve cosmological harmony and ontological self-enrichment, one would expect to find great importance attached to the themes of quietude ( jing ) and vacuity (xu ). Indeed, there is much to be said for each of these, and yet, it falls upon an even more profound one to inform the Daoist enterprise -wu (nothingness/nonbeing). This paper will thus give an account of Daoist wu, arguing that it acts as the ontological facilitator for Dao's creativity while marking the absence of things ontically. Textual examples will be derived from the Daodejing, Zhuangzi, Liezi, and Wenzi.

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Recent years have seen an increased turning to the “wisdom of the East” when addressing issues on the environment. The risk of misappropriating its tenets in order to make them conform to the Western system is extremely high however. This paper will lay bare the early texts of Daoism so as to disprove claims that Nature is mystical, antithetical to technology, and subservient to human consciousness. It shall argue that Nature not only arises from a non‐anthropocentric source in Dao but that this arising takes place across three levels of reality: Dao's mystery, the cosmogony of the One‐and‐Many, and the fourfold comprised of Dao, Heaven, Earth, and man. The result is a vision of Nature no longer bound to a singular actuality but one whose presence is felt across an endless range of possibilities as the substantive realization of Dao.

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