JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<div id="t1">
<p>hello</p>
<p>there</p>
</div>
<ul id="t2">
<li>hi</li>
</ul>
JavaScript
// should find 2 elements (p)
alert( $("#t1").find(":not(li)" ).length );
// should find 0 elements
alert( $("#t2").find( ":not(li)" ).length );