Gia-Fu Feng

Gia-fu Feng (; January 10, 1919 – June 12, 1985) was a prominent translator of classical Chinese Taoist philosophical texts, founder of an intentional community called Stillpoint, and leader of classes, workshops, and retreats in the United States and abroad based on his own unique synthesis of tai chi, Taoism, and other Asian contemplative and healing practices with the Human Potential Movement, Gestalt therapy, and encounter groups.

He was associated with Alan Watts, Claude Dalenberg, and the American Academy of Asian Studies; Jack Kerouac, Joanne Kyger, Gary Snyder, and the Beat Generation; and Abraham Maslow, Fritz Perls, Dick Price, Michael Murphy, and the Esalen Institute.

He is best known for his bestselling translations and calligraphy of the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi Inner Chapters accompanied by black-and-white photographs by Jane English in the books Lao Tsu / Tao Te Ching, first published in 1972, and Chuang Tsu / Inner Chapters, first published in 1974.

Early life Gia-fu Feng, later known as "Jeff" to some of his American friends and family but "Gia-fu" to most, was born in China in 1919, the third of nine children in a wealthy and influential family. His father was a banker who rose to prominence with the Ta-Ching Government Bank, then co-founded and served as president of the Bank of China in Shanghai. His mother died when he was 16. He was educated at private boarding schools, and received tutoring at home in Chinese classics and English. One of his English tutors was the sister of the British commissioner of Shanghai Customs.

His family practiced traditional Chinese religion, observing all twenty-four annual festivals, for example traveling from Shanghai to visit their ancestors' tombs in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, during the Qingming Festival. When he was twelve years-old his older siblings converted to Christianity, and at their recommendation during his first time living away from home as a young adult he was baptized and participated in a fervently puritanical church group, but he drifted away after a year.

But Esalen was also to be transformative for him. That same year he was staffing the front desk when he recognized a guest's name and enthusiastically welcomed Abraham Maslow, who had wandered in looking for a motel room. Maslow's book Towards a Psychology of Being was already a major influence at Esalen, closely read by Feng and others there, and Maslow became a regular visitor and influence himself. Humanistic psychology and the Human Potential Movement were to become central to Feng's path forward. One of his students at Esalen was Anne Heider. With her husband John Heider, who led encounter groups under Will Schutz, she trained in Esalen massage and discovered Feng's tai chi classes. She learned some postures well enough to lead a class when Feng was absent, and joined in his next project. He was encouraged by books published over the previous two years by other Esalen figures: Fritz Perl's In and Out of the Garbage Pail, and massage guru Bernard Gunther's Sense Relaxation: Below Your Mind. Gunther's and Feng's books even shared the same publisher and a similar design. ) Jerome Kirk, UC Irvine professor of sociology and anthropology, wrote the introduction — a deep dive into the historical and metaphysical context — and helped with the I Ching translation. but he had found that the simplified form best met the needs of most of his students, who were usually at Esalen for only a short while. Also other references to leadership and stillness, such as the first line of the classic Great Learning about the virtue of leading the people to rest (be still) in excellence. But to the average Westerner he simply explained that Stillpoint was a place to find the peace and contentment that Chinese call "settled heart" . Members of the community were called "Stillpointers", even after they left. may owe much to an unexpected change of publisher. The book pairs Feng's translation of the ancient Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu with black-and-white photographs by English, and with his calligraphy of the original Chinese text directly on the photos in the style of traditional Chinese paintings. They began the book in January 1971 in California and completed it that fall in Vermont, where English set up a darkroom in a Kent Gay family basement. They then brought a mock-up of the book, with the layout designed by English, to publishers in New York.

Published in 1972, by the release of the 25th anniversary edition it had sold over one million copies and was the most popular translation of the Tao Te Ching. The book's success was life-changing for both authors. In addition to their new income, Feng gained worldwide renown that led new Stillpointers to him and led him to offer workshops and retreats around the world over the next ten years, in addition to working with Lippe on updated and alternate editions with an introduction by Jacob Needleman.

Stillpoint: Colorado and travel The Stillpoint group spent the winter of 1971-72 in Mineral Hot Springs, Colorado, where Feng corresponded with Lippe on the final editing of the Tao Te Ching, and English shot a roll of film in the nearby Great Sand Dunes from which she later selected twelve photos for their next book, Chuang Tsu / Inner Chapters. They then moved on to Manitou Springs, renting until 1973 when Feng and English used their royalty advance as part of a downpayment on a house on Ruxton Avenue for the group. In 1977 Feng purchased property near Wetmore, Colorado and moved Stillpoint to that bucolic rural setting.

Also published by Knopf under the Vintage Books imprint, the design matched that of the Lao Tsu volume, with Feng's translation and calligraphy paired with English's black-and-white photographs and layout. A newspaper reviewer found the photographs "nothing short of superb - serene in composition and sensitively executed", and well-matched with the "fables, humor, poetry, and riddles" offering "kernels of everlasting truth".

By the thirty-fifth anniversary edition the book had sold over 150,000 copies as Jane English guided it through several updated releases by various publishers, English also produced wall calendars with quotes and photographs from the Lao Tsu and Chuang Tsu books as well. Jane English continues to produce reprintings and new editions of the books she coauthored with Feng, as well as calendars, cards, and journals she designs based on those books. Their Tao Te Ching remains the bestselling English edition.

Feng did not want the Stillpoint community to continue after his death, to prevent any veneration of him as founder of any kind of spiritual lineage. The community disbanded, and after a legal battle against local developers Susan Wilson became sole owner of the Wetmore property and prevented commercial development. After Susan's death from cancer in 1991, her sister Carol Ann Wilson developed partnerships with environmental education organizations for the site's use and maintenance, and in 2005 secured its preservation through a conservation land easement with the San Isobel Land Protection Trust, now part of Colorado Open Lands.

In 1995 Carol Ann Wilson cofounded Stillpoint: A Center for the Humanities & Community, with a board of directors that included longtime Stillpointers. For almost twenty years the center produced a series of poetry readings, writer workshops, author talks, music programs and other events at Wetmore and in Boulder, Colorado. She also inherited responsibility for Feng's draft memoirs. After thirteen years of research and interviews in the United States and China she released a biography, Still Point of the Turning World: The Life of Gia-fu Feng, through Amber Lotus Publishing in 2009 and as a Kindle e-book in 2014.