JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<div id="list1">
<p>hello</p>
<p>there</p>
</div>
<ul id="navigation">
<li>hi</li>
</ul>
JavaScript
// should find 2 element2 (p)
alert( $("#list1").find("> :not(li)" ).length );
// should find 0 elements
alert( $("#navigation").find( "> :not(li)" ).length );