Taoist I Ching of Gia-Fu Feng of Stillpoint Foundation

Gia-Fu Feng was raised in traditional China in a wealthy family of bankers in the early 20th century. His early education encompassed both Confucian and Taoist training. Later he came to the United States and settled in California, helping to found the Esalen Institute of Big Sur. He found he was a Taoist Sage, which meant he was not suited to gainful employment in a traditional structure, not even the New Age openness of California.

Eventually, Gia-Fu Feng settled in Colorado at the base of the Barr Trail to Pike's Peak and established his own Taoist center, Stillpoint Foundation. This is where I met him and worked with him on his Taoist translation of the I Ching while living his unique Taoist experience at Stillpoint Foundation.

Taoism is rarely well understood, especially as it is a mystical tradition which has few objective realities for academic study. The I Ching also is a mystical text and oracle which is mostly known through its Confucian commentaries and the personal experience of those of us who cast the oracle of the I Ching in our daily lives.

First we must begin with the traditional I Ching (Flux Tome in American, though that understanding didn't come to me until years after my interaction with Gia-Fu Feng). My appreciation for the mystical Taoist perspective upon the I Ching (Flux Tome) also developed later when I managed to experience how the same line judgment could be interpreted in totally different ways either as advice to a government bureaucrat (in Imperial China) or as a free-wheeling, unemployed New Age type.

My experience with this dual interpretation of each individual line judgment also came years after my interaction with Gia-Fu Feng, when I began to correlate the Sabian Symbols for the 360 degrees of the Zodiac of Marc Edmund Jones to the line judgments of the Wilhelm translation of the I Ching.

One's personal quest is a long journey which only makes sense as one comes to various vista points where it is possible to look back upon prior experience and bring it to new understanding. I met Gia-Fu Feng and worked with him on his Taoist translation of the I Ching during my first decade upon my spiritual Quest.

I am still working upon fully understanding the meaning of our translation and its place in my Magnum Opus, The Flux Tome. It is not possible to tell a mystical tale as a simple linear narrative. However, let me start my tale with the traditional I Ching of the King Wen Sequence from 1100 B.C.E. and let it grow from there.

The Ching part of I Ching refers to its being one of the traditional Confucian Classics (or Jing or Ching) of ancient China. These books were central to the Confucian philosophy of personal refinement and development of the ideals of ancient Imperial China.

However, Confucius or Kung Tzu in Chinese was only one of many ancient Chinese philosophers. His perspective was steeped in the ancient Imperial Chinese bureaucracy. His classics were to supply the knowledge required by any such bureaucrat to do his job correctly.

The extent to which the Confucian perspective upon the I Ching was tilted toward avoiding personal responsibility or individual opportunity, the prime virtue of all government bureaucrats in all centuries, became clear with the correspondence between Wilhelm/Baynes I Ching hexagram line judgments and the 1970's Rudhyar American Mandala imagery for the 360 Sabian Symbols for the astrological Zodiac.

The same underlying process was described as 'calamity' in Wilhelm and as creative opportunity in Rudhyar's recasting of Marc Edmund Jones' work. When illustrated through the line place slogans and the Flux Tome hexagram names, the structural unity came into focus. It was a situation or process dependent upon the individual actions involved not the situation overall.

Each version was skewed to the expectations and audience of its author. The line patterns of the I Ching hexagrams illustratedthe inner skeleton of the process or narrative unfolding in the oracle hexagrams. As long as everyone shared the same Tao or context Trail, the commentary could be understood clearly.

Even in ancient China--and continuing into the 20th century--not everyone was satisfied with the philosophical perspective of the government bureaucracy. An older contemporary of Confucius, Lao Tzu or Old Son or revered Elder myth figure developed his contribution to the Global Awareness of the Unity of all Process in the form of 81 poems of the Tao Te Ching which grew into a continuing following through the centuries.

An independent Chinese philosophy developed for all those who were not government bureaucrats and preferred to live their own lives in their own ways. The most mystical perspective of this independent personal philosophy developed from the 81 poems of Lao Tzu about the ultimate Cosmos organizing principle called the Tao.Later this developed into the philosophy of Taoism.

Those children born to wealthy families in Imperial China were given a classical education in traditional Chinese arts and philosophy from both the Confucian and Taoist perspectives. Gia-Fu Feng was born in Shanghai early in the 20th century. His early childhood included training in calligraphy and Taoist philosophy.

For a traditional Chinese working on the Confucian Classics was a noble endeavor. Gia-Fu Feng was sent to America before the Maoist Revolution to study the modern Western arts for his family Bank back in China. He remained here since the Revolution and became a major figure in the California Spiritual Rebirth, involved with the founding of Esalen Institute other New Age innovations.

Gia-Fu Feng created Stillpoint Foundation where he tried to establish his own Taoist reality in the U.S. The difficulties of translating traditional Chinese Taoism into the New Age experiments of the 1970's were always very close at hand. He tried to add a translation of the Confucian Classic I Ching to a photo book on T'ai Chi Chaun (moving meditation) using "groovy" as one of the Chinese slogans.

By 1973 Gia-Fu Feng was entering a new phase of his life having published his translation of the the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu as a coffee table book with pleasant poetry, Chinese calligraphy and nature photography by his wife Jane English. This new found establishment, best-seller celebrity author status and secure income set off difficult tensions in this traditional Taoist.

Those with established positions in traditional China were Confucians, those who were Taoist were to be fundamentally non-Establishment. The combination was difficult, especially for Gia-Fu in the U.S. where he had settled near the trail head of Barr Trail up Pike's Peak in Colorado.

I met Gia-Fu in 1973 having recognized his name from the copy of his translation of the Tao Te Ching I had purchased in Chicago, IL. At that time Gia-Fu was making the transition from living as a taoist sage unknown in the world to being a celebrity author in the U.S. I traveled briefly out to Colorado to visit Stillpoint while it was in the beginning of a major transition.

In the summer of 1974 I spent the summer out at Stillpoint Foundation working on Gia-Fu Feng's Taoist translation of the I Ching. It was an opportunity for him to retreat to his early childhood memories of his Taoist training while he developed the cocoon of his next metamorphosis.

How is the I Ching Taoist? What is Taoism?
How is it lived? What is a Taoist Sage like up close?

I Ching or Yi Jing or Book of Changes is the Classic Tome of Chinese wisdom for all situations expressed through the 64 binary patterns of a 6-place matrix. This text has been revered for its Oracle for millennia. The texts generally note there is a Taoist and an official Confucian line of commentary of the I Ching.

The paradigm best-seller of Western I Ching Oracle studies is the Wilhelm (translated into English by Baynes). It is a German Protestant’s translation of the official Confucian Imperial edition of 1715. It mentions at times the more established of the Taoist commentaries.

Translations or commentaries by actual living Chinese Taoists of the Yi are rare. Traditionally in China, those who had Establishment jobs followed the Confucian way. Only those who could manage their affairs outside that system could indulge in Taoist freedom and exploration. Both perspectives were considered a vital part of a properly raised and educated Chinese son’s cultural heritage.

The prime difference between the intrinsically Taoist Translation of the I Ching by Gia-Fu Feng in the summer of 1974 and any other I Ching is an expression of the Tao of 1974. It was a unique moment in American history and in the lives of everyone in the United States. None of us realized it at the time. I will speak about it later in this page and on the linked page about the details of the translation.

Now we are in a new century, millennium, Great Age and Gia-Fu’s Taoist translation of the I Ching is an historical document. It is Taoist to its very core. The translation was a joint project of Gia-Fu and Frank R. Kegan. Gia-Fu was the Taoist Yang King, the commander-in-Chief and focus of all the work. Frank R. Kegan was the Yin minister supplying the background and open space that called forth from Gia-Fu his best efforts from his mystical Taoist roots and early childhood training in Taoism and the I Ching.

For those impatient to click on to other things, or otherwise standing upon one leg needing a quick answer:

Gia-Fu’s Taoist translation of the I Ching differs from Wilhelm’s standard translation in the four fundamental oracle slogans and the non-moralistic playful perspective of the imagery.

In Wilhelm the four slogans, which are all of the I Ching Judgment on hexagram One:

Supreme Success Perseverance Further

Although Baynes renders the judgment for hexagram one of the I Ching more poetically as:
The Creative works sublime success,
Furthering through perseverance.

Let me assure you that Richard Wilhelm the German Protestant minister born in 1873 thought in terms of Supreme not sublime.

In Gia-Fu’s translation we used these terms for the four slogans:

Primal Bliss Fruitful Zest

And the judgment on I Ching Hexagram One:

Creative. Primal Bliss Fruitful to have Zest

In my own Flux Tome (I Ching) the first hexagram is called Sunshine.

Gia-Fu shows his Taoist I Ching style in his judgment for I Ching hexagram Two:

Earthy. Primal Bliss. Fruitful to maintain the zest of a mare. When the master acts, at first he goes astray later he finds guidance. Most fruitful to gain friends in the Southwest To leave friends in the Northeast. Peace. Zest. Luck

And the difference in the moral judgment free Taoist I Ching in the judgment for I Ching Hexagram 44::

CHANCE ENCOUNTER. THE GIRL IS TOUGH. DO NOT TAKE HER HOME.
Chance encounter means to meet. The gentle meets the strong.
Do not take the woman because it won't last long.
Heaven and Earth meet, all things prosper.
The tough gets the correct center all under heaven prevails.
Great indeed is the timing and rectitude of chance encounter.

For more on the Tao, Taoism and The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu
And translated by Gia-Fu Feng

Tao, Taoism and The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu

For those intrigued to see the total innovation of the I Ching through the framework of the Ancient Portal of the Pythagorean Eidos and other “mysteries,” try the Flux Tome (I Ching)Also included the radical innovation of using the insights of theancient Chinese ideograms to pronounce Taoist and I Ching terms in American idiom. This has nothing to do with Ezra Pound and the British mistranslation of the Book of Odes.

In this perspective, Tao with the radicals for Head and Walking process becomes not 'avenue' in modern Chinese (or Dao in modern transliteration), but TRAIL indicating both the natural path of the Planet Earth topography that is followed by those in the know as well as knowing the overall context or environment of expectations which is the deep background of anyone's perception of any and all situations. This TRAIL or background context also becomes further developed by each persons participation in those shared expectations and perceived situations.

Te with the radicals for out of and the heart becomes SPIRIT
Or that authentic and original flavor and active principle which can express itself as an independent essence.

Or the classic 81 poem work by Lao Tzu would be
Revered Old Boy's Trail Spirit Tome
to keep in line with the I Ching or
Flux Tome

The Flux Tome Perspective

For those with time to ponder Gia-Fu Feng and
the Stillpoint Experience of 1973 and 1974
as I experienced it with my I Ching and horoscope skills:Just keep reading.

Gia-Fu Feng was born and raised in Shanghai in traditional China soon after World War I. His family was part of the elite of China, involved in the founding of the modern Bank of China who raised their son with the traditional Chinese religion and training in the I Ching, calligraphy and Taoism among other things.

Gia-Fu joined the family banking business and was involved in the lifestyle of the elite of modern China. He mentioned he had a special prostitute assigned to him as part of his lunch hour activities. The power of Western influence replaced traditional reliance upon the I Ching for his family.

His father was fascinated by the advances of Western science and banking. Gia-Fu was sent to the Wharton School of U. Penn to study International Finance in 1947. His family wanted him to stay in the U.S. after Mao took over China. From the time he arrived in the U.S. he never had any interest in returning to his old life back in China.

The major change in Gia-Fu as he became accustomed to living in America was to stop speaking his flawless English of his graduate school days to develop a strong Chinese immigrant accent and demeanor. He mentioned he once, back in the old days felt disrespected by a restaurant maitre d’ so he became very angry, pulling out a $100 bill and waving it in his face. He yelled at him, ”I am not a Chinese laundry man!”

Later he took the Taoist course and retired from the Establishment life. Embracing the convenient role offered by American society he became the little ole crazy Taoist sage of Tai Chi, I Ching, calligraphy, shiatsu massage, Taoist meditation and therapy.

Gia-Fu was a true Chinese and a natural born Taoist. He cared little about Establishment recognition. He was appreciated by the Beat Dharma Bums and lauded by Alan Watts. He was a major figure in the early days of Esalen Institute. However, always his Taoist roots would separate him from these entanglements.

At Esalen, Gia-Fu used his business skills and banker’s training to keep the books and manage the payroll. He also took the very Taoist role as keeper of the Baths as well as practicing his Shiatsu massage. From that milieu he observed and learned from Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls. In true Taoist fashion he insisted Fritz pay him for a shiatsu massage, and when he refused, deducted the tab from Fritz paycheck.

This was a parting of the ways for the two of them. In terms of I Ching imagery, the three traveling together of Esalen Institute, Fritz Perls and Gia-Fu lost one. Gia-Fu traveling alone found a companion that suited him better. Fritz brought Ida Rolf to replace Gia-Fu’s Shiatsu massage and eventually Gia-Fu moved on to establish his own Taoist vision, Stillpoint Foundation.

He published a book of his style of Yang Tai Chi with photos of the position and a quickie version of the I Ching. It is most notable for his use of “Groovy” for one of the I Ching Oracle slogans.

While we were working upon our Taoist translation of the I Ching, Gia-Fu thanked me for this opportunity to actually delve into the I Ching and make his first translation. He noted that he had never read the Chinese original before. The version in his Tai Chi book was slapped together without bothering with the original sources.

As we worked with his texts and his meditation upon his Taoist roots, he some days would go back into his early childhood. He noted that although his mother was very kind to him as a teen and older, indulging his personal wishes, she was very strict with him as a small boy. He remembered his prayers to the ancestral gods that today he may be a good boy so his mother would not beat him with the thin rod.

Gia-Fu was truly Chinese with a very different perspective and mind set than a modern American. In one discussion amongst the folks at Stillpoint, the topic of our immigrant grandparents evoked considerable personal energy. Gia-Fu wanted to join the discussion. He said that his family also were immigrants. They were not originally from Shanghai.

They came from far inland in China, where Genghis Khan invaded. “When did your family immigrate to Shanghai?” I asked him. “Oh, when Genghis Khan invaded,” he replied simply. He went on to mention that he remembers in his youth some of his uncles were still very outraged over the insult to the family by the Mongol rape of their women folk.

I learned that day how Chinese time is very different from American time perspectives. To be a native of an area of China, the family must have been there at least since the first Emperor if not from the beginning of the Earth. To be resident in Shanghai since the 13th century was sufficient to be part of the banking elite. However, Gia-Fu was quite clear they were immigrant upstarts taking advantage of the modern opportunities available in China in the last half a millennium.

Gia Fu revered the I Ching as a Chinese Classic. He worked on translations of Taoist texts with the entire Stillpoint community. His wife Jane English was trained as a physicist but worked as a photographer in the Taoist setting. They took a manuscript of their Taoist Translation of the 81 poems of Lao Tzu, the Tao Te Ching to New York, with Jane’s nature photos overwritten with Gia-Fu’s traditional Chinese calligraphy.

They found a sympathetic editor at Random House and were able to have the book published as they wished at the price they set. That wasn’t truly Random House’s intent, but the book became a best seller (though never the paradigm of Taoist texts) bringing them all substantial revenues.

Gia-Fu interpreted the Oracle of the I Ching from his Taoist perspective. When hexagram 2 or 15 came up, with their yin lines, he would interpret the Oracle as speaking of an empty situation. The Yin influence was a background or emptiness. Yang was the clear expression of something.

During my time at Stillpoint out in Manitou Springs, CO I experienced the physical reality of Yang and Yin. This was being inside the I Ching in the actual world of Sunshine and Planet Earth topography. One day walking about the natural setting with the solitary landmark of Pike’s Peak I saw what Yang/Yin was all about. It was a brilliantly sunny summer’s day with many puffy clouds scurrying across the skyscape.

At times the whole landscape was brilliantly illuminated by bright sunshine. Sometimes the clouds covered the sun and the landscape was brightly lit by hazy sunshine. At times the clear sky showed the edge of a cloud crossing the sun and casting a shadow across the landscaped. All of these variations of sun and cloud were clearly lit and quite unremarkable.

At one point in time a single unique incident occurred. The mix of clear sky and scurrying clouds were crossing the sun. At that time Pike’s Peak was clearly illuminated by bright sunshine. A shadow of the cloud scurrying by was crossing the landscape. When the cloud shadow fully covered most of Pike’s Peak and the surrounding area, only the very peak was still in brilliant sunshine.

What had been variations in summer sunshine suddenly and briefly changed totally. The sunshine upon the peak sparkled and dazzled like a polished and faceted diamond or crystal. The rest of the mountain and surround area was black as night. That was the physical expression of the Yang Yin gestalt process. Seconds later it was gone. The cloud scurried by bit.The regular patterns resumed of either hazy sun or bright sunshine always keeping the landscape brightly lit.

The Stillpoint experience was part of the spiritual Renaissance of the early 1970’s. When researching a novel (I’ve never written) about that time later in the ‘80’s, I took to asking people about their impressions of those years. Universally, everyone answered, “Oh nothing happened in the early ‘70’s.” Then I would follow up with the open question, “And what were you doing from October 1973 to 1974?”

When focused to the particular details of their own life activities in that specific time frame they also had a universal answer. Whatever they were doing before came to an end. Their lives took a major turn from what had been established to the new and totally different things they were now about.

Those months from 1973 to 1974 were like the focal point of a lens projecting the movie of their lives. Nothing was clear or even visible at the time, but it was the fulcrum upon which their personal universe turned. Then I looked at the formal history of the Watergate Affair. The path President Nixon took was not just for his administration. The entire American people were undergoing similar transitions punctuated at the same times.

In May of 1973 the Watergate hearings began. Memorial Day weekend 1973 I met Gia-Fu and his seminar group from Stillpoint at a Taoist Meditation weekend. I knew of him from his best-seller (my Taoist paradigm) Tao Te Ching. At the weekend we did many things, I Ching Oracles and volley ball amongst them. It was a life changing experience for me.

Meeting Gia-Fu Feng at his Taoist Meditation Weekend

Taoism- Wu Wei (Taoist Non-Action)
from my personal experience Stillpoint 1973

In the Summer of 1974 everything was different in the United States. The Watergate hearings were now impeachment hearings. Stillpoint had a new Tao and a different group of people living there. Gia-Fu had spent a semester as visiting professor at a college in the Midwest. He brought back a dozen or so students eager to experience his exotic Taoist retreat.

There is a universal law of real estate. The majority of the population yields the Tao of a place. Gia-Fu was totally outnumbered that summer. I was one of the few who experienced and remembered the community and routines of Stillpoint before. My experience was only a matter of days in the prior summer. It was a new Tao arising from the American student opening to other perspectives and cultures.

I brought to Stillpoint my experience with the Oracle of the I Ching and my recent involvement as a professional astrologer in my community back in Chicago.Gia-Fu took refuge in our work on the Taoist Translation of the I Ching from the swirling American Chaos. By the end of the summer our work on the I Ching was complete and I retired from Stillpoint with our unpublished manuscript in its Kinko’s copy shop paper bag until now.

Stillpoint summer 1974 Part of the Tao of 1974

The actual writing of the Taoist Translation of the I Ching

Gia-Fu's Taoist Translation of the I Ching

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