“The sage creates a sacred space around him. He emits an aura of compassion and mindfulness and seeks only to impart the wisdom of the universe to others. The sage releases what has blocked him in eternity, as he listens to signals from the dawn of time. The sage retires from unhappiness, worry, and the pursuit of possessions. The sage fills his life with the energy of abundance, defines prosperity as the positive energy from within, and withdraws from the strain of seeking security. As he admonishes others to retire from unhappiness, as you spend every moment creating and manifesting your own eternal vibrations. Enjoy the moments given you. Love the people around you. Live the life offered you. And know that it is when you show up as authentic, that you give others permission to do the same.

The only thing we carry with us in eternity are the memories of who we have been, the places we have traveled, and the friends we have met along the Way.  It is in the remembering that we become whole eager to return home once again. Everything else is just baggage we simply forget and leave behind.”  Kongdan

If this is your first look at the Kongdan Foundation website please note that we now have both books that have been published in China. “An American Journey through the I Ching and Beyond” published in 2004 and “Thoughts on becoming a Sage” two years later in 2006. Additional books and articles I have written that are as unpublished as well a topics of interest are as follows:

1. My Travels with Lieh Tzu. This is a complete personal account of the “Book of Lieh Tzu” that became required reading for Taoism over the centuries.
2. Taoism and Lao Tzu including my book “Thoughts on becoming a Sage”.
3. The I Ching – Voices of the Shaman including my book, “An American Journey through the I Ching and beyond.
4. Travels to Qufu, Chengdu and Xi’an in May-June 2014.
5. My version of The Dazhuan. The 5th and 6th Wings of the Ten Commentaries of the I Ching.
6. Confucius As Therapy for Today’s Heart and Soul a/k/a Kongdan over China. This is a personal account of my travels and teaching in Qufu from 1999 through 2014.
7. Kongdan Book Series #1 Finding Clouds of Virtue.
8. Kongdan Book Series #2 Irreverently Meandering through Time.
9. Chuang Tzu’s pivot and wu wei.
10. The Ultimate Storyteller.
11. My own version of The Frog in the Well story.
12. The Shaman and Shamaness.
13. Dan and Chris trip to China in October 2016.
14. The I Ching/Confucius Society of China.
15. Taoist teaching and traditions in China (This tab includes books and additional references that describe the history of Taoism in China).
16. References and further readings and study ( a listing of fifty books in my personal library that help to guide my thoughts and writing. Additional books and materials are added as they become available).
17. The Confucian Orthodoxy – The Analects of Confucius (on-going translation)
18. Taoist Meditation and Practice
19. Burton Watson’s Chuang Tzu
20. Nei-yeh — Inward Training
21. Daily Word in China and Pivot to Unity in USA
22. 2017 Chinese New Year… Year of the Rooster
23. The Heru, Luoshu, and Nine Palaces
24. Contending for the Middle
25. Dujiangyen Irrigation System in Chengdu
26. It’s not where you are, but who you are
27. Eternal thoughts of Forgiveness
28. Wu wei – the Art of doing Nothing
29. Dancing with the Stars
30. Isabelle Robinet – Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy
31. Moving Mountains
32. Importance of Mencius in Chinese History
33. Increasing the vibrations of our Thoughts

All of the above are now here, although some editing still is needed in moving content to this website… it is a process and includes adding several hundred thousand words of my writing as well as others to this venue. Sometimes things can be found elsewhere, but are here as a point of reference. One of the disappointing aspects of this website is the difficulty in including pictures. I have taken over 6,000 pictures in China and would like to include some of them here. That is proving to be very difficult. I have made almost fifty trips to China since May 1997. A great initial overview would be to read of my travels and teaching in Qufu that can be found in the tab for Confucius and Qufu.

I am especially happy with the story I wrote in 2011 entitled The Shaman and Shamaness that tells the history of the Shaman throughout Chinese history. Is it a myth or the real thing, who will ever know?

I am happy and honored to confirm my election as vice-president of the I Ching/ Confucius Society of China at their national conference on Sunday, October 15th in Qufu. This group is made up of scholars from around China who are dedicated to keeping the history, thoughts, and ideas expressed in the I Ching, Confucius, and Taoism in the forefront of Chinese culture and the world. I am anxious to continue playing a small role in this noble effort.

Please enjoy my website. I hope it is both informative and enjoyable.

           The Kongdan Foundation, Inc. is a Florida corporation recognized as a 501c3 by the Internal Revenue Service on May 5, 2007 and became registered with the Missouri Secretary of State in February 2017.  All required filings with the IRS are current and the corporation is in good standing with all of the above requirements to operate as a not-for-profit corporation.

It’s mission  is to strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the needs of global independence.  To advance this mission our purpose is to develop partnerships in the following areas:

— Health and Education, Security and Economic Empowerment.

— Leadership Development and Citizen Service.

— Promote the historical thoughts of Chinese philosophers Confucius, Lao, Chuang and Lieh Tzu (Taoism) and many others and I Ching, through teaching, publishing and promoting theirs and many other historical  global figures and their impact on the world, thereby becoming a bridge between yesterday, today and the future.

Giving people the capacity to understand, improve, and gain control over their financial situation strengthens individuals, families, communities, countries, the world, and the universe.  Gaining understanding and wisdom of man’s role in nature and the Tao is paramount in this endeavor.

The President/CEO of The Kongdan Foundation, Daniel C DeCarlo has taught and lived for many years in China. He is a published author and is considered a scholar of Chinese history and philosophy. He recently taught as an adjunct professor and at Confucius Institute at Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida when not living in Qufu, in Shandong Province in China. Dan and family recently moved from Florida to Springfield in southwest Missouri in July 2015. The face book page for The Kongdan Foundation is current and actively encouraging people to follow.

You can reach Dan DeCarlo at dantzu@att.net or by phone at 561-254-0009.