View source for Mu (negative)

{{Short description|Term meaning 'not', 'without', or 'lack'}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|t={{linktext|無}}
|s={{linktext|无}}
|p=wú
|j=mou<sup>4</sup>
|poj=bô
|kanji=無
|hiragana=む
|revhep=mu
|hangul=무
|hanja=無
|rr=mu
|
}}
[[image:Wu (negative).svg|thumb|Chinese traditional character for Wu]]

In the [[Sinosphere]], the word {{hani|無}}, realized in Japanese and Korean as '''''{{Transliteration|Hani|mu}}''''' and in [[Standard Chinese]] as '''{{Transliteration|zh|wu}}''',{{efn|[[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|무}}{{pb}}[[Simplified Chinese]]: {{zhi|s=无}}; [[pinyin]]: {{zhi|p=wú}}<!--To do: Chinese variant pronunciations here-->}} meaning 'to lack' or 'without', is a key term in the vocabulary of various East Asian philosophical and religious traditions, such as [[Buddhism]] and [[Taoism]].

==Etymology==
[[Image:無-seal.svg|right|thumb|upright=0.6|The character ''{{Transliteration|Hani|mu}}'' in [[seal script]].]]
[[Image:無-still.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.6|The character ''{{Transliteration|Hani|mu}}'' in [[cursive script (East Asia)|cursive script]]]]
The [[Old Chinese]] *{{Transliteration|och|ma}} ({{lang|och|無}}) is [[cognate]] with the [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman language|Proto-Tibeto-Burman]] *{{Transliteration|und|ma}}, meaning 'not'. This reconstructed root is widely represented in [[Tibeto-Burman languages]]; for instance, {{Transliteration|bo|ma}} means 'not' in both Tibetan and Burmese.<ref>Schuessler, p. 519.</ref>

==Pronunciations==
The [[Standard Chinese]] pronunciation of {{Transliteration|zh|wú}} ({{lang|zh|無}}; 'not', 'nothing') historically derives from the {{circa|7th century}} [[Middle Chinese]] {{Transliteration|ltc|mju}}, the {{circa|3rd century}} [[Eastern Han Chinese|Late Han Chinese]] ''muɑ'', and the reconstructed {{circa|6th century BCE}} [[Old Chinese]] *{{Transliteration|och|ma}}.<ref name="Schuessler">{{cite book|last=Schuessler|first=Axel|title=ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIvqAC7FNBQC|year=2007|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2975-9|page=518}}</ref>

Other [[varieties of Chinese]] have differing pronunciations of {{lang-zh|c=無}}. Compare [[Cantonese]] {{lang-zh|j=mou4|labels=no}}; and [[Southern Min]] {{IPA|nan|bo˧˥|}} ([[Quanzhou]]) and {{IPA|nam|bə˧˥|}} ([[Zhangzhou]]).

The common Chinese word {{Transliteration|zh|wú}} ({{lang|zh|無}}) was adopted in the [[Sino-Japanese vocabulary|Sino-Japanese]], [[Sino-Korean vocabulary|Sino-Korean]], and [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary|Sino-Vietnamese]] vocabularies. The Japanese [[kanji]] {{lang|ja|無}} has {{Transliteration|ja|[[Kanji#On'yomi|on'yomi]]}} readings of {{Transliteration|ja|mu}} or {{Transliteration|ja|bu}}, and a {{Transliteration|ja|[[Kanji#Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)|kun'yomi]]}} (Japanese reading) of {{Transliteration|ja|na}}. It is a fourth-grade kanji.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Kyoiku Kanji (教育漢字) - Kanshudo |url=https://www.kanshudo.com/collections/kyoiku_kanji |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324010221/https://www.kanshudo.com/collections/kyoiku_kanji |archive-date=March 24, 2022 |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=www.kanshudo.com}}</ref> The Korean {{Transliteration|ko|[[hanja]]}} {{lang|ko|無}} is read {{Transliteration|ko|mu}} (in [[Revised Romanization of Korean|Revised]], [[McCune–Reischauer]], and [[Yale romanization of Korean|Yale]] romanization systems). The Vietnamese [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary|Hán-Việt]] pronunciation is {{lang|vi|vô}} or {{lang|vi|mô}}.

==Meanings==
Some English translation equivalents of {{Transliteration|zh|wu}} or {{Transliteration|ja|mu}} are:
*"no", "not", "nothing", or "without"<ref name="baroni">Baroni, Helen Josephine. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=smNM4ElP3XgC&dq=joshu+dog+rinzai&pg=PA229 The illustrated encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism]'', p. 228.</ref>
*"nothing", "not", "nothingness", "un-", "is not", "has not", "not any"<ref name="shambhala">Fischer-Schreiber, I., Ehrhard, R. K. & Diener, M. S. (1991). ''The Shambhala dictionary of Buddhism and Zen'' (M. H. Kohn, Trans.). Boston: Shambhala. P. 147.</ref>
*# Pure awareness, prior to experience or knowledge. This meaning is used especially by the [[Chan Buddhism|Chan school]] of Buddhism. 
*# A negative.
*# Caused to be nonexistent.
*# Impossible; lacking reason or cause.
*# [[Nonexistence]]; nonbeing; not having; a lack of, without.
*# The "original nonbeing" from which being is produced in the ''[[Tao Te Ching]]''.<ref name="無">[http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?71.xml+id('b7121') Muller, A. Charles, ed. ''Digital Dictionary of Buddhism'' (Edition of 2010 July 31) page: "''non-existent''"]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Note this quoted definition is abridged.</ref>

In modern Chinese, Japanese and Korean it is commonly used in combination words as a [[Affirmation and negation|negative]] [[prefix]] to indicate the absence of something (no ..., without ..., un- prefix), e.g., {{lang-zh|c=无-线|p=wú-xiàn}}/{{Nihongo||無-線|mu-sen}}/{{Transliteration|ko|mu-seon}} ({{lang|ko|무-선}}) for "wireless".<ref>[[WWWJDIC]]: 無-; 无- 【む-】 (n) (1) nothing; naught; nought; nil; zero; (pref) (2) un-; non-</ref> In [[Classical Chinese]], it is an [[impersonal verb|impersonal existential verb]] meaning "not have".<ref>{{cite book |title=Outline of classical Chinese grammar |last=Pulleyblank |first=E.G. |author-link=Edwin G. Pulleyblank |year=1995 |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0-7748-0541-4 |page=30 }}</ref>

The same character is also used in Classical Chinese as a [[imperative mood|prohibitive]] [[grammatical particle|particle]], though in this case it is more properly written {{lang-zh|c=毋|p=wú}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=Outline of classical Chinese grammar |last=Pulleyblank |first=E.G. |author-link=Edwin G. Pulleyblank |year=1995 |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0-7748-0541-4 |page=107 }}</ref>

==Characters==
In traditional [[Chinese character classification]], the uncommon class of [[phonetic loan character]]s involved borrowing the character for one word to write another near-[[homophone]]. For instance, the character {{lang|zh|[[wikt:其|其]]}} originally depicted a winnowing basket ({{Transliteration|zh|ji}}), and scribes used it as a graphic loan for {{Transliteration|zh|qi}} ({{lang|zh|其}}, "his; her; its"), which resulted in a new character {{Transliteration|zh|ji}} ({{lang|zh|[[wikt:箕|箕]]}}) (clarified with the [[Radical 118|bamboo radical]] {{lang|zh|⺮}}) to specify the basket.

The character {{Transliteration|zh|wu}} ({{lang|zh|[[wikt:無|無]]}}) originally meant "dance" and was later used as a graphic loan for {{Transliteration|zh|wu}}, "not". The earliest graphs for {{lang|zh|無}} pictured a person with outstretched arms holding something (possibly sleeves, tassels, ornaments) and represented the word {{Transliteration|zh|wu}} "dance; dancer". After {{Transliteration|zh|wu}} meaning "dance" was borrowed as a loan for {{Transliteration|zh|wu}} meaning "not; without", the original meaning was elucidated with the radical {{lang|zh|舛}}, "[[Radical 136|opposite feet]]" at the bottom of {{Transliteration|zh|wu}}, {{lang|zh|[[wikt:舞|舞]]}} "dance".

==''Mu-kōan''==
''[[The Gateless Gate]]'', a 13th-century collection of [[Zen]] ''[[kōan]]'',  uses the word ''wu'' or ''mu'' in its title (''Wumenguan'' or ''Mumonkan'' 無門關) and first kōan case ("Zhao Zhou's Dog" 趙州狗子). Chinese Chan calls the word ''mu'' 無 "the gate to enlightenment".<ref>Muller.</ref> The Japanese [[Rinzai school]] classifies the Mu Kōan as ''hosshin'' [[wikt:発心|発心]] "resolve to attain enlightenment", that is, appropriate for beginners seeking ''[[kenshō]]'' "to see the Buddha-nature".<ref>Baroni, p. 228.</ref>

Case 1 of ''The Gateless Gate'' reads as follows:

{| class=wikitable style="width:70%;"
|-
! Chinese !! English translation
|-
| 趙州和尚、因僧問、狗子還有佛性也無。州云、無。
| A monk asked [[Zhaozhou Congshen]], a Chinese Zen master (known as ''Jōshū'' in Japanese), "Has a dog [[Buddha-nature]] or not?" Zhaozhou answered, ''"Wú"'' (in Japanese, ''Mu'')<ref name=Aitken>{{Cite book |last=Aitken |first=Robert, ed. and trans. |author-link=Robert Baker Aitken |title=The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-men Kuan (Mumonkan) |location=San Francisco
|publisher=North Point Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-86547-442-0 }}</ref>
|}

The koan originally comes from the ''Zhaozhou Zhenji Chanshi Yulu'' ({{lang-zh|t=趙州真際禪師語錄}}), ''The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Zhao Zhou'', koan 132:

{| class=wikitable style="width:70%;"
|-
! Chinese !! English translation
|-
| 僧問：狗子還有佛性也無？

師云：無。

問：上至諸佛，下至螻蟻皆有佛性，狗子為什麼卻無？

師云：為伊有業識在。
| A monk asked, "Does a dog have a Buddha-nature or not?"

The master said, "Not [Mu]!"

The monk said, "Above to all the Buddhas, below to the crawling bugs, all have Buddha-nature. Why is it that the dog has not?"

The master said, "Because he has the nature of karmic delusions".

<ref name=Green>{{Cite book | last=Green | first=James, ed. and trans.
| title=The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Zhao Zhou | location=Lanham, Maryland | publisher=Rowman Altamira |year=1998 | isbn=978-0-7619-8985-1 | page=53 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4sJ5fK6_vYC&pg=PA53}}</ref>
|}

The ''[[Book of Equanimity|Book of Serenity]]'' ({{lang-zh|c=從容録 |p=Cóngróng lù}}), also known as the ''Book of Equanimity'' or more formally the ''Hóngzhì Chánshī Guǎnglù'' ({{lang-zh|c=宏智禪師廣錄}}), has a longer version of this koan, which adds the following to the start of the version given in the ''Zhaozhou Zhenji Chanshi Yulu''.

{| class=wikitable style="width:70%;"
|-
! Chinese !! English translation
|-
| 僧問趙州，狗子有佛性也無。

州云，有。

僧云，既有為什麼卻撞入這箇皮袋。

州云，為他知而故犯。
| A monk asked Master Zhao Zhou, "Does a dog have Buddha Nature?"

Zhao Zhou replied, "Yes."

And then the monk said, "Since it has, how did it get into that bag of skin?"

Zhao Zhou said, "Because knowingly, he purposefully offends."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Book of Equanimity: illuminating classic Zen koans |last=Wick |first=G.S. |author-link=Gerry Shishin Wick |year=2005 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |location=Somerville, MA |isbn=978-0-86171-387-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofequanimity0000wick/page/57 57] |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofequanimity0000wick/page/57 }}</ref>
|}

===Origins===
In the original text, the question is used as a conventional beginning to a question-and-answer exchange ([[mondo (scripture)|mondo]]). The reference is to the ''[[Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra]]''<ref>{{cite book |title=Sitting with Koans: essential writings on Zen Koan introspection |last=Loori |first=J.D. |author-link=John Daido Loori |year=2005 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |location=Somerville, MA |isbn=978-0-86171-369-1 |page=266 }}</ref> which says for example:
{{blockquote|In this light, the undisclosed store of the [[Tathāgata|Tathagata]] is proclaimed: "All beings have the Buddha-Nature".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://webzoom.freewebs.com/nirvana-sutra/convenient/complete-sutra.html |title=Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Chapter 18 |access-date=18 February 2012}}</ref>}}

Koan 363 in the ''Zhaozhou Zhenji Chanshi Yulu'' shares the same beginning question.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Green |first=James, ed. and trans. |title=The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman Altamira |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7619-8985-1 |page=116}}</ref>

===Interpretations===
This koan is one of several traditionally used by [[Rinzai school]] to initiate students into Zen study,<ref name="baroni"/> and interpretations of it vary widely. [[Hakuun Yasutani]] of the [[Sanbo Kyodan]] maintained that:
{{blockquote|The koan is not about whether a dog does or does not have a Buddha-nature because everything is Buddha-nature, and either a positive or negative answer is absurd because there is no particular thing called Buddha-nature.<ref>Grenard, Jerry L. "The Phenomenology of Koan Meditation in Zen Buddhism". ''Journal of Phenomenological Psychology'' 39 (2008) 151–188.</ref>}}

This koan is discussed in Part 1 of Hau Hoo's ''The Sound of the One Hand: 281 Zen Koans with Answers''. In it, the answer of "negative", mu, is clarified as although all beings have potential [[Buddha-nature]], beings who do not have the capacity to see it and develop it essentially do not have it. The purpose of this primary koan to a student is to free the mind from analytic thinking and into intuitive knowing. A student who understands the nature of his question would understand the importance of awareness of potential to begin developing it.<ref>Hau, "The Sound of the One Hand: 281 Zen Koans with Answers", 1975</ref>

====Yoshitaka and Heine====
The Japanese scholar {{ill|Iriya Yoshitaka|ja|入矢義高}} made the following comment on the two versions of the koan:
{{blockquote|I have held doubts for some time even with regard to the way the so-called "Chao-chou's Word No" has been previously dealt with. To the question "Does a dog have the Buddha-nature?", on the one hand Monk Chao-chou replied affirmatively, but on the other hand he replied negatively. However, Zen adherents in Japan have rendered the koan exclusively in terms of his negative response, and completely ignored the affirmative one. Moreover, it has been the custom from the outset to reject the affirmative response as superficial compared to the negative one. It seems that the ''[[The Gateless Gate|Wu-men kuan]]'' is responsible for this peculiarity.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Zen canon: understanding the classic texts |last=Heine |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Heine |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-515067-4 |page=230 }}</ref>}}

A similar critique has been given by Steven Heine:
{{blockquote|The common approach espoused [...] emphasizes a particular understanding of the role of the koan based on the “head-word” or “critical phrase” method developed by the prominent twelfth century Chinese master, [[Dahui Zonggao|Daie]]. This approach takes the “Mu” response in a non-literal way to express a transcendental negation that becomes the topic of an intensive contemplative experience, during which any and all thoughts or uses of reason and words are to be cut off and discarded for good rather than investigated for their expressive nuances and ramifications. Yet, historical studies demonstrate quite persuasively that an overemphasis on this single approach to one version of the kōan is somewhat misleading.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.oup.com/2012/04/four-myths-about-zen-buddhisms-mu-koan/|title=Four myths about Zen Buddhism's "Mu Koan"|date=April 28, 2012|website=OUPblog}}</ref>}}

=={{anchor|unanswer}}Non-dualistic meaning==

In [[Robert M. Pirsig]]'s 1974 novel ''[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]'', ''mu'' is translated as "no thing", saying that it meant "unask the question". He offered the example of a [[electronic circuit|computer circuit]] using the [[binary numeral system]], in effect using ''mu'' to represent [[high impedance]]:
{{blockquote|For example, it's stated over and over again that computer circuits exhibit only two states, a voltage for "one" and a voltage for "zero." That's silly! Any computer-electronics technician knows otherwise. Try to find a voltage representing one or zero when the power is off! The circuits are in a ''mu'' state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pirsig |first=Robert M. |author-link=Robert M. Pirsig |title=Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values |location=New York |publisher=Harper Perennial |id=First Perennial Classics edition |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-06-095832-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/zenartofmotorcyc00pirs_0/page/328 328] |url=https://archive.org/details/zenartofmotorcyc00pirs_0/page/328 }}</ref>}}

The word features prominently with a similar meaning in [[Douglas Hofstadter]]'s 1979 book, ''[[Gödel, Escher, Bach]]''. It is used fancifully in discussions of [[First-order logic|symbolic logic]], particularly [[Gödel's incompleteness theorems]], to indicate a question whose "answer" is to either un-ask the question, indicate the question is fundamentally flawed, or reject the premise that a [[non-dual|dualistic]] answer can be given.<ref name="Hofstadter">{{Cite book |last1=Hofstadter |first1=Douglas R. |url=https://archive.org/details/gdelescherbachet00hofs |title=Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid |publisher=Basic Books |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-465-02656-2 |orig-year=1979}}</ref>

"Mu" may be used similarly to "[[wikt:N/A|N/A]]" or "not applicable," a term often used to indicate that the question cannot be answered because the conditions of the question do not match the reality. An example of this concept could be with the [[loaded question]] "Have you stopped beating your wife?", where "mu" would be considered the only respectable response.<ref name="Hofstadter"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/M/mu.html | title=mu | work=The New Hackers' Dictionary (Jargon File) | last=Raymond | first=Eric S. | author-link=Eric S. Raymond}}</ref>

The programming language [[Raku (programming language)|Raku]] uses "Mu" for the root of its type hierarchy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.raku.org/type/Mu|title=class Mu|website=docs.raku.org}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Contradiction|Falsum]]
*[[Ma (negative space)|''Ma'' (negative space)]]
*[[Many-valued logic]]
*[[Muji]], a Japanese clothing retailer self-styled as "no-brand"
*[[Mushin (mental state)]] - Japanese concept of "no mind"
*[[Mokusatsu]]
*[[Neti neti]]
*[[Not even wrong]]
*[[Nothingness]]
*[[Wronger than wrong]]
*[[Wu (awareness)]] - Chinese concept of enlightenment
*[[Wuji (philosophy)]] 
*''[[Wu wei]]'', a term in [[Chinese philosophy]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
*{{Cite book |last=Day |first=Stacey B. |author-link=Stacey B. Day |title=Man and Mu: The Cradle of Becoming and Unbecoming: Desiderata For Human Science |url=https://openlibrary.org/b/OL709443M/Man_and_Mu |year=1997 |publisher=International Foundation for Biosocial Development and Human Health |location=New York |isbn=978-0-934314-00-8 |oclc=45243608 }}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|無|Mu}}
*[http://blog.oup.com/2012/04/four-myths-about-zen-buddhisms-mu-koan/ Four myths about Zen Buddhism's "Mu Koan"], [[Steven Heine]]
*[http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Teishos/Tarrant_koan_mu.html The Koan Mu], [[John Tarrant (Zen Buddhist)|John Tarrant]]

{{Zen}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mu (Negative)}}
[[Category:Zen]]
[[Category:Kōan]]
[[Category:Chinese words and phrases]]
[[Category:Japanese words and phrases]]
[[Category:Korean words and phrases]]
[[Category:Kyōiku kanji]]