Wu-wei is easily mistranslated as “non-action” and then dismissed as passivity. It is the opposite of passivity. It is action so well-fitted to circumstance that nothing is wasted, nothing forced. Water carving stone does wu-wei.
Zhuangzi‘s cook cuts up the ox by following the joints, and his knife never dulls. An expert at anything knows the feel of wu-wei — the place where effort and ease are no longer distinct. The Taoist claim is that this is how one can live an entire life.
See also flow in modern psychology and Surrender in devotional traditions.