Feng Tang

Feng Tang was born on May 13, 1971, in Beijing. He lived in Chuiyangliu, where was referred frequently in his works, for his childhood and teenage. The young Feng Tang studied in Beijing No.80 High School from 1984 until 1990. After finishing high school, he attended Peking Union Medical College and earned a doctoral degree in clinical medicine with a specialisation in gynaecological oncology in 1998. Two years later, he graduated from Emory University Goizueta Business school's MBA program with scholarship and  joined McKinsey & Company.

In 2001, when Feng Tang was 30 years old and freshly graduated from his MBA program, his first book "Everything Grows 萬物生長" was published in China. During the next years, he continuously worked and published some novels, short stories, poetries, and essays, included his first trilogy "The Beijing Trilogy 北京三部曲", which is one of his most famous works. In 2005, he earned the third People's Literature Award,[1] established by People's Literature Magazine, the most iconic literature magazine in China.

In 2011, his novel "Oneness 不二" was published in Hong Kong and gained a wider recognition for his literary talents. The book broke the sales record in Hong Kong at the time, and the media humorously proclaimed that "from now on, Hong Kong's publishing industry relies on Feng Tang". In 2012, Feng Tang was listed at the top of the "Top 20 under 40 future literature masters in China",[2] a onetime list issued by People's Literature magazine.

While working as a full-time business professional, Feng Tang continued to write in his spare time. In 2014, his another novel "No Woman, No Cry 女神一號/素女經(HK version)" was published in Hong Kong and Mainland China again.[3]

In July 2014, Feng Tang felt he needed to learn how to slow down and to live in quietness, he resigned from China Resources Healthcare Group Limited and got a short residence in California, while he was approached by Zhejiang Literature and Arts Publishing House to re-translate Tagore's Stray Birds in Chinese. He rented a house near the Napa Valley, shabby, but with a large yard, and spent three months on translating Stray Birds. The book received a huge controversy and criticism[4] when published in 2015 and finally has been taken down from the shelves a few months later.[5] Nonetheless, Feng Tang believed his translation better reflects contemporary Chinese language, history and literature will make their judgments.[6]

In early of 2015, Feng Tang backed to Hong Kong and joined Citic Capital Partners Management Limited as a senior management director.In addition to being a professional, he keeps on writing as a serious hobby. In 2017, the Guomai Publishing House and Motie Publishing House hold autograph seminars for Feng Tang throughout China and attracted crowds of fans. He began to attend online programmes and collaborated with others to conduct calligraphy exhibitions.

In 2019, Feng Tang was named by the GQ magazine as one of the most influential authors in the past ten years, and he was rated as the author with the best-selling record of all time by Dangdang, the most famous online book selling website in China. In 2020, Feng Tang has been nominated and selected as the recipient of Emory University's Sheth Distinguished International Alumni Award.[7]

In January 2021, Feng Tang left Citic Capital and found Oneness Consulting Company. He continued by writing on literature and general management, and giving online audio lectures.

In China's literary tradition, authorship and penmanship go hand in hand. Feng Tang has stayed loyal to this tradition. In July 2017, his calligraphy work "Looking into Flowers 觀花止" debuted an art exhibition "Dreaming into Flowers 夢筆生花---當代語境中的人文藝術"[18] in Beijing, accompanied by works of many famous Chinese artists and writers, including Nobel Laureate Mo Yan.

In April 2018, Feng Tang met famous Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and the two artists collaborated on an calligraphy exhibition called "Calligraphy as Oneness 書道不二".

In December 2019 and January 2020, Feng Tang's private exhibition "Feng Tang Happy Land 馮唐樂園"[19] was hold in Beijing and Shanghai respectively. The exhibition comprised six scenes and interpreted by calligraphy, photograph and lamplight to create a unique experience for audiences.

In March 2020, the luxury brand and pen manufacturer Mont Blanc invited Feng Tang to created Mont Blanc Feng Tang Font, which will be used in all of Mont Blanc's Chinese publishing marketing materials.

In December 2020, when the Covid-19 came, people changed their habits and spent a lot of time at home. Under this circumstance, Feng Tang's private exhibition "Otaku宅"[20] was hold in Beijing from December 2020 to February 2021. There is total 53 pcs calligraphy works and paintings has been displayed.

In August and October 2021, his another private exhibition "Form and Emptiness 色空"[21] was held in Beijing and Hangzhou respectively. The exhibition shows 60pcs of his calligraphy works and paintings. The VR technology used in the exhibition brings a sensuous experience to the visitors.

In 2022, Feng Tang hold his 3rd round of calligraphy exhibition "Tea the Wild" has been hold in Shanghai and Beijing.[22] It showed over 50pcs of his calligraphy works and paintings.

In addition to being an artist, Feng Tang is also a business professional. After earning his MBA degree from Emory University, he began his business career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in 2000, and after six years, he rose to the level of global partner.[23]

In 2009, Feng Tang was invited to join China Resources (Holdings) Co., Limited as a General Manager of Strategy Management Department. A few months later, he formulated a strategy to explore the healthcare industry in China market for the company's development. In October 2011, he was appointed as the founding CEO of CR Healthcare. His mission was to build China's largest corporate-managed hospital network with the most advanced management and medical capabilities, seeing this as a way to provide better healthcare service to all, and to revolutionize China's mostly state-owned medical industry. The company expanded rapidly under his management, conducted many trailblazing projects in reforming state owned hospitals, and started a trend in the investment of private medical institutions in China as the company's strategy was showing great promise for investors. One of the projects, the structural reform of Kunming Children's Hospital, stands as the textbook example on reformation and privatization of public hospitals in China to this day.

From 2015, Feng Tang moved his career to investment, again, focusing on the healthcare industry, and became the senior managing director of CITIC Capital. Trained as a clinical doctor, Feng Tang aspired to improved China's healthcare system, and through his continuous effort over the past two decades, he has made many contributions in growing and reforming China's healthcare sector.

Over the past years, Feng Tang showed his talent in commercial world. In 2019, he began to write management books with his unique views on self-management, team management, and achieving continual success in business.[24] Later in 2020, Feng Tang was asked to create a series of online audio lectures based on the books.[25]

Feng Tang's dual identity of an artist and a competent business leader struck a chord in the Chinese psyche. On one level, he is an inspiration for many who have a regular career and at the same time aspire in creative and artistic pursuits. On a deeper and more cultural level, Feng Tang is perhaps the only person in China's recent memory who reflects the age-old image of the ideal gentlemen in Chinese tradition; one who is devoted in worldly pursuits (Confucianism) and more importantly cultivates his artistical, philosophical, and spiritual virtues (Taoism and Buddhism). For this reason, Feng Tang become a cultural icon and an influencer in China.

As an influencer, Feng Tang frequently publishes essays and anecdotes on social media. He has over 10 million followers on Weibo,[26] one of the most important Chinese social media websites. Feng Tang has been a columnist for GQ magazine in China for ten years, during which time his articles appeared in every issue of the magazine, and his portrait even appeared on the cover once. Through these articles, he promotes a more mindful lifestyle, a more naturalistic and contained aesthetics, and a better appreciation of everyday events and objects. He even provides an advice for relationships, careers, and overcoming obstacles in life, with style and humour.

• Official website