''The Dancing Wu Li Masters'' is a 1979 book by Gary Zukav, a popular science work exploring modern physics, and quantum phenomena in particular. It was awarded a 1980 U.S.

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in category of Science."National Book Awards – 1980"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-07. This was the award for paperback Science.
From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Award history there were dual awards for hardcover and paperback books in many categories, including several nonfiction subcategories. Most paperback award-winners were reprints of earlier works; this one was eligible for both awards as a new book. Although it explores empirical topics in modern physics research, ''The Dancing Wu Li Masters'' gained attention for leveraging metaphors taken from eastern spiritual movements, in particular the Huayen

school of Buddhism The schools of Buddhism are the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. The classification and nature of various Doctrine, doctrinal, Buddhist philosophy, philosophical or ...

with the monk

Fazang Fazang () (643–712) was the third of the five patriarchs of the Huayan school of Mahayana Buddhism, of which he is traditionally considered the founder. He was an important and influential philosopher, so much so that it has been claimed that he ...

's treatise on the Golden Lion, to explain quantum phenomena and has been regarded by some reviewers as a

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

work, although the book is mostly concerned with the work of pioneers in western physics down through the ages. The toneless

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

phrase ''Wu Li'' in the title is most accurately rendered in

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

, one Chinese translation of the word "physics" in the light of the book's subject matter. This becomes somewhat of a pun as there are many other Chinese characters that could be rendered as "wu li" in atonal

, and chapters of the book are each titled with alternative translations of ''Wu Li'', such as "Nonsense", "My Way" and "I Clutch My Ideas". Zukav participated as a journalist in a 1976 physics conference of eastern and western scientists at

Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education. The institute played a key role in the Human Poten ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

; and he used the occasion as material for his book. At the conference, it was said that the Chinese term for physics is 'Wu Li', or "patterns of organic energy." Zukav, among others, conceptualized 'physics' as the dance of the Wu Li Masters – teachers of physical essence. Zukav explains the concept further: :''The Wu Li Master dances with his student. The Wu Li Master does not teach, but the student learns. The Wu Li Master always begins at the center, the heart of the matter...''

Editions

*''The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics'' (1979). New York: William Morrow and Company, hardcover: , paperback: , 352 p. **(1984) Bantam mass market paperback: , 337 p. **(1990) Audio Renaissance audiocassette: (abridged) **(2001) Harper Perennial paperback: , 416 p. **(2001) Audio Renaissance CD: (abridged)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dancing Wu Li Masters, The 1979 non-fiction books National Book Award-winning works New Age books Quantum mysticism Taoism in popular culture Physics books Books about the history of physics

Editions

See also

Notes

References