Biography
Early Life and Family Background
Feng Ba's ancestors were descendants of Bi Wan, and his descendants changed their surname to Feng because they received fiefs in Feng Township. During the Yongjia Rebellion, his grandfather Feng He fled to Shangdang Commandery to avoid the chaos. His father, Feng An, was brave and possessed great capacity, serving as a general under Murong Yong, Emperor of Western Yan. After the fall of Western Yan, Feng Ba moved east with his family to Helong (present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning) and settled in Changgu. From a young age, Feng Ba was steady and taciturn, generous and magnanimous, and could drink a stone of wine without getting drunk. Although his three younger brothers were righteous, their behavior was unrestrained; only Feng Ba was respectful and cautious, dedicated to the family business, and deeply valued by his parents.
Service in Later Yan and the Coup
After Murong Bao, Emperor Huimin of Later Yan, ascended the throne, he appointed Feng Ba as General of the Central Guard. After Murong Xi ascended the throne, Feng Ba and his brother Feng Sufu were accused of crimes due to certain incidents. Murong Xi intended to execute the two brothers, so Feng Ba and his brother fled into the deep mountains. At that time, taxes and corvée labor in Later Yan were heavy, and the people could not bear the suffering. In 407 (the first year of Jianshi), Feng Ba and Feng Sufu discussed the situation and concluded that Murong Xi was foolish and tyrannical and harbored resentment toward them, so it was better to rise up in time to establish a great enterprise of marquessate or dukedom. Thus, Feng Ba and his cousin Feng Wanni, along with twenty-two others, planned the coup. Feng Ba and two of his younger brothers rode in a carriage driven by women, infiltrated Longcheng, and hid in the home of Sun Hu, the Military Adviser of the North. Subsequently, they executed Murong Xi and enthroned Gao Yun as Heavenly King. Gao Yun appointed Feng Ba as Acting with the Imperial Tally, Palace Attendant, Commander of All Military Affairs Internal and External, General-in-Chief Who Conquers the North, Commander Unequalled in Honor, and Supervisor of the Affairs of the Secretariat, and enfeoffed him as Duke of Wuyi.
Establishment of the Northern Yan Regime
In 409 (the fifth year of Yixi), Gao Yun was killed by his close attendants Li Ban and Tao Ren. Feng Ba climbed onto the Hongguang Gate to observe the situation. His subordinates Zhang Tai and Li Sang requested to execute the rebels. Li Sang killed Li Ban at the West Gate, and Zhang Tai killed Tao Ren in the courtyard. The crowd recommended Feng Ba as the leader. Feng Ba initially declined, stating that his brother Feng Sufu had extraordinary talent and strategy, and the merit of quelling the chaos belonged to Feng Sufu. Feng Sufu also declined, believing that the royal enterprise should belong to his elder brother. Under the urgent requests of the ministers, Feng Ba agreed. At Changli Longcheng (present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning), he proclaimed himself Heavenly King, retaining "Yan" as the state name, known in history as Northern Yan. He issued a general amnesty, changed the era name to Taiping, posthumously honored his grandfather Feng He as Emperor Yuan, his father Feng An as Emperor Xuan, honored his mother Lady Zhang as Empress Dowager, established his wife Lady Sun as Queen, and his son Feng Yong as Crown Prince. At the same time, he appointed Feng Sufu, Feng Hong, and other clan members, as well as meritorious officials such as Zhang Xing and Sun Hu, to key court positions.
Quelling Internal Rebellions and Consolidating Rule
In the early period of Feng Ba's reign, his cousins Feng Wanni and Feng Ruchen harbored resentment because they were not appointed to assist in the court. In 410 (the sixth year of Yixi), Feng Ruchen secretly conspired with Feng Wanni to rebel. Feng Wanni led troops to hold the city of Bailang. Feng Ba sent Feng Hong and General Zhang Xing to lead twenty thousand infantry and cavalry to punish them. Feng Hong sent someone to persuade Feng Wanni to surrender, but Feng Ruchen refused to surrender and agreed to fight. Zhang Xing anticipated that the enemy would launch a surprise attack at night and ordered his soldiers to prepare torches and ambush. That night, Feng Ruchen sent elite troops to raid the camp. The ambush set fire to the attackers, capturing and executing the raiders. Feng Ruchen and others surrendered and were executed by Feng Hong.
Late Political Situation and Death
During Feng Ba's reign, Northern Yan maintained a relatively stable situation. In August of 430 (the seventh year of Yuanjia), Feng Ba fell seriously ill and summoned Shen Xiu, Director of the Secretariat, and Yang Zhe, Palace Attendant, to entrust them with posthumous affairs. In September, his condition worsened. Feng Ba rode in a litter to the Jinluan Hall and ordered the Crown Prince Feng Yi to preside over court affairs and command the national army to prevent accidents. However, Feng Ba's consort, Lady Song, intended to enthrone her son Feng Shouju as emperor. She hinted to Feng Yi that the emperor's illness would soon recover and advised him to abdicate. Feng Yi was of a weak and literary nature and followed Lady Song's advice to return to the Eastern Palace. Lady Song then falsely issued an imperial edict, forbidding court ministers from entering the palace to visit the sick, allowing only Hu Fu, a Palace Attendant, to enter and exit freely. Hu Fu noticed Lady Song's conspiracy and reported it to Feng Hong. Feng Hong led armed warriors into the rear palace, and the guard troops scattered without resistance. Feng Hong's household servant Ku Dou Tou climbed over the wall into the sleeping quarters and shot a palace maid. Feng Ba witnessed this scene in bed and died of shock and fear. Feng Hong immediately ascended the throne, declaring that Feng Yi had not attended to the sickbed and suspected him of treason, forcing Feng Yi to commit suicide and executing more than one hundred of Feng Ba's other sons. After Feng Ba's death, he was posthumously named Emperor Wencheng, with the temple name Taizu, and buried in Changgu Mausoleum.
Divine Light Illuminating the Room
When Feng Ba resided in Changgu, cloud formations resembling pavilions often appeared in the sky, causing astonishment. According to records, Feng Ba once saw the Heavenly Gate open at night, with divine light brightly illuminating the entrance to his courtyard, which was regarded as an auspicious omen.
Golden Dragon Floating on Water
When Feng Ba's younger brother Feng Sufu and his cousin Feng Wanni and others were swimming by the river, they saw a golden dragon floating on the water. Feng Sufu showed the dragon to everyone, and all considered it an auspicious sign. Murong Xi heard about it and demanded the golden dragon. Feng Sufu hid it, and Murong Xi was greatly angered. This also became one of the reasons why Murong Xi later intended to execute Feng Ba and his brother.
Blood Flowing from the Left Arm
When Feng Ba was holding a grand banquet for his officials, blood suddenly flowed from his left arm. Feng Ba found this disgusting. Wang Chui, a Gentleman Attendant, took the opportunity to promote the idea that the mandate of heaven was being fulfilled. Feng Ba warned him not to spread this matter.
His Forebears, His Early Years, and His Flight into the Mountains
Feng Ba, whose courtesy name was Wenqi and whose childhood name was Qizhifa, was a man of Xindu in Changle. His forebears came from the descendants of Bi Wan, some of whom received the district of Feng as their fief and so took Feng for their surname. In the troubles of Yongjia his grandfather Feng He took refuge in Shangdang; his father Feng An was of martial bearing and of large capacity, and under Murong Yong held the rank of general; and when the Western Yan fell, Feng Ba moved east to Helong and made his home at Changgu. In childhood Feng Ba was grave and sparing of speech, generous and large-minded, "drinking a picul of wine without confusion"; and while his three younger brothers were all given to knight-errantry and gave no thought to their calling, he alone was reverent and careful and applied himself to the family estate, so that his parents thought highly of him. When Murong Bao usurped the title he was made a general of the central guard. Murong Xi governed with cruelty, and Feng Ba and his brothers having earlier been in trouble for some matter, Murong Xi thought of killing them, so that the brothers fled into the mountains; and at that time taxes and labour service were so many that the people could not bear them. It is recorded that Feng Sufu once swam in the river with his cousin Feng Wanni and a number of youths, and that a golden dragon came swimming up on the surface of the water; and when Feng Sufu asked Wanni and the others whether they saw anything, they all said they saw nothing, whereupon Feng Sufu showed them the dragon, and they all took it for a portent out of the ordinary. Murong Xi, hearing of it, asked Feng Sufu for the dragon, and Feng Sufu hid it, at which Murong Xi was angry; and when he came to the throne he meant to kill the Feng brothers secretly. Afterwards Feng Ba broke one of Murong Xi's prohibitions and, fearing disaster, fled with his brothers into the desolate hills and marshes.
The Coup against Murong Xi and the Setting Up of Gao Yun
In 407 the Feng brothers took counsel together, saying that Murong Xi was now benighted and cruel and moreover hated them, that since there was no road back they must not sit waiting to be killed, but must rise in time and found the estate of a duke or marquis, and that if the thing failed it would be time enough to die. They therefore plotted with their cousin Feng Wanni and twenty-two others. Feng Ba and his two brothers rode in a carriage driven by women and slipped into Longcheng, hiding in the house of the northern commandant Sun Hu; and they killed Murong Xi and set up Gao Yun as their lord. Gao Yun made Feng Ba holder of the staff of authority, palace attendant, commander of military affairs within and without, general of the northern expedition, equal of the three offices and director of the secretariat, and duke of Wuyi. Afterwards, when Feng Ba feasted his colleagues, blood suddenly flowed from his left arm and he was disgusted at it, whereupon the attendant of the secretariat Wang Chui spoke of the answering of portents, and Feng Ba warned him to say no more of it.
The Killing of Gao Yun, the Suppression of Disorder, and His Assumption of the Heavenly King's Title
In 409 Gao Yun was killed by his favourites Li Ban and Tao Ren, and Feng Ba went up on the Hongguang gate to watch events. His camp commanders Zhang Tai and Li Sang said to him that these wretches could not go far and asked leave to strike them down for him; and drawing their swords they went down, Li Sang killing Li Ban at the western gate and Zhang Tai killing Tao Ren in the courtyard. The company then urged Feng Ba to be their lord, and Feng Ba said that the duke of Fanyang, Feng Sufu, was of no common ability and had set his mind on pacifying disorder and sweeping away the violent, and that all was his merit; but Feng Sufu declined, saying that he had heard of a father or elder brother holding the realm and passing it to a son or younger brother, but never of a son or younger brother taking the father's or brother's work and putting himself first, that the great foundation was not yet built and the danger greater than that of a hanging pendant, that the work of Heaven could not be left undone, and that the enterprise hung upon the elder brother, and that he begged him to obey the mandate of Heaven above and answer the hearts of the people below. The ministers pressed him urgently, and he consented, taking the title of Heavenly King at Changli, not changing the old name of the state but calling it Yan — known to history as Northern Yan — and taking the era name Taiping. He sent envoys by circuits to tour the commanderies and observe the customs, gave his grandfather Feng He the posthumous name of Emperor Yuan and his father Feng An that of Emperor Xuan, honoured his mother lady Zhang as empress dowager, made his wife lady Sun queen and his son Feng Yong heir.
His Appointment of Officers, Rule with His Brothers, and the Rebellion of Feng Wanni
In appointing his officers he relied chiefly on kin and old followers: his brother Feng Sufu as palace attendant, general of chariots and cavalry and director of the secretariat; Feng Hong as palace attendant, general of the eastern expedition, right vice president of the secretariat and duke of Jijun; his cousin Feng Wanni as general of the flying cavalry and governor of You and Ping; Wu Yinti as grand general and governor of Liaodong; Sun Hu as palace attendant, president of the secretariat and duke of Yangping; Zhang Xing as general of the guard, left vice president of the secretariat and duke of Yongning; Guo Sheng as general of the eastern garrison, concurrently right guard general and duke of Chenliu; his cousin's son Feng Ruchen as general of the western expedition and governor of Bing and Qing and duke of Shanggu; Yao Zhao as general of the southern garrison, colonel of the capital province and duke of Shangdang; Ma Fuqin as minister of civil office and duke of Guangzong; and Wang Nan as palace attendant, general of the pacification army and duke of Yingchuan, the rest being appointed with ranks varied accordingly. Soon afterwards Feng Wanni memorialized asking to be replaced, and Feng Ba said that having by his want of virtue been mistakenly put forward by the worthy, he wished to share joy and sorrow with his brothers, that the troubles of the time were not yet quiet and the post of walling the state was weighty, and that for warding off insult and shielding the state, though there were other men, none was like his own brothers, so that he could not do as Feng Wanni asked; and he made him equal of the three offices. Yet Feng Wanni and Feng Ruchen, thinking themselves both kinsmen and men of great merit, expected to enter the court as the three excellencies and assistants; and Feng Ba, holding their two frontier commands too weighty, did not call them in, so that both bore a grudge. Feng Ruchen, coarse and of surpassing courage, sent word secretly to Feng Wanni in 410 that he had a plan and wished to carry it out with his uncle; and Feng Wanni fled to Bailang and rebelled with his troops. Feng Ba sent Feng Hong with the general Zhang Xing and twenty thousand foot and horse against him; and Feng Hong sent an envoy to reason with him, saying that in former days the brothers had risen on the wind and cloud, and that the ministers, holding that Heaven's mandate was fixed and men's hopes attached, had forced their lord to mount the precious seat, and that the dividing of land and the granting of rank ought to be shared among brothers, and asking why he would set spear and shield within his own walls and cast away brotherly affection; that to err and amend was the greatest good, and that he should put aside his resentment and join in supporting the royal house. Feng Wanni would have surrendered, but Feng Ruchen, grasping his sword, said in anger that a great man's life and death were decreed and must be settled now, and asked what surrender meant; and they fixed a day for battle. Zhang Xing said to Feng Hong that the rebels would fight on the morrow and would surely come tonight to disturb the camp, and that the three armies should be warned against the unforeseen; and Feng Hong secretly had each man prepare ten bundles of hay, store torches and set an ambush. That night Feng Ruchen indeed sent more than a thousand picked men to raid the camp; the torches all blazed at once and the ambush struck them on the way, "not one being left alive or uncaptured," and Feng Ruchen and the rest, in fear, came out and surrendered, and Feng Hong put them all to death.
His Lenient Government, His Punishment of Bribery, and His Promotion of Farming and Learning
In 411 Feng Ba issued an edict saying that of late the affairs of the state had been many and calamities had followed one another, that taxes were numerous and labour service heavy and the people in bitter straits, that there should be leniency and simple government, that all the harsh measures of former reigns should be abolished, that local officials should practise kindness and do the people no injury, and that the censors should examine into it. Earlier, when Murong Xi fell, a craftsman named Li Xun had stolen treasure and fled, a very great quantity, and had bribed Ma Fuqin, who appointed him a director of planning; and when a disappointed man wrote the matter on the stone tablet below the palace gate and Feng Sufu told Feng Ba of it, asking that Ma Fuqin be dismissed and punished, Feng Ba said that a great minister should not lack the integrity of loyalty and purity, that to take bribes openly at court, though it came of his own want of wisdom, deserved exposure in the market as a warning, but that the great work being newly founded and the standing rules not yet promulgated, and Ma Fuqin having been raised from a poor and mean house without the ambition of a gentleman, he would pardon him for that once; but that Li Xun, a petty man who had bribed an officer of the court, might be beaten to death in the eastern market. And from that time high and low were disciplined and bribery ceased. He sent envoys touring the commanderies, relieving widowers, widows, the aged and the sick with grain and cloth in varying amounts, and commending those who were filial and fraternal, diligent in the fields or harmonious in their households; and men of worth such as Hao Yue of Changli, Zhang Maicheng of Yingqiu, Zhou Diao, Wen Jiande and He Zuan were all selected and given office. He had the grand master of ceremonies Liu Xuan move five hundred households of northerners to Changgu as a domain for his grandfather's tomb. He made his heir Feng Yong grand chanyu and established the four assistants. He valued farming and mulberry and was diligent in government, issuing edicts to reduce labour service and taxes, ordaining death for those slack in farming and reward for those diligent, and having the president of the secretariat Ji Da draw up the rules; and before sending out any local official he would always receive him in the eastern hall in person and ask him what he meant to do in government, letting him speak freely so as to see his bent — so that "within and without the court all were diligent in business." For learning he issued an edict that "the martial is for putting down disorder and the civil for conducting government, and that the settling of the state and the reforming of manners depended on both," that of late, with deaths and calamities, rites and music had decayed and there was no singing among the people nor schooling for the young, and that a grand college should be built, with Liu Xuan of Changle, Zhang Chi of Yingqiu and Zhai Chong of Chengzhou as erudite officers, and the sons of those of the two-thousand-bushel rank and below who were over fifteen should be chosen to receive instruction.
His Dealings with the Rouran, the Qidan and the Northern Wei, and the Eastward Migration of His Clan
When the Rouran khan Yujiulü Hulu was driven out by his younger brother Dadan, he fled with all his household to Feng Ba, who settled him and received him with the courtesy due to a guest, and took Yujiulü Hulu's daughter as a consort of the second rank. Afterwards Hulu memorialized asking to return north of the passes, and Feng Ba said that he was ten thousand li from his own country and had no support within it, that to send him with a great army would make the transport of grain impossible, while with too few troops he could not be secure, and that to cross a thousand li to attack a state had been thought hard even by the ancients, let alone several thousand. Hulu urged that he need not trouble many men and asked only for three hundred cavalry; and Feng Ba consented and sent the assistant of the chanyu, Wan Ling, with three hundred horse to escort him; but Wan Ling, fearing to go so far, killed Hulu at the Black mountain and returned. As to marriage, the Rouran had sent an envoy asking to marry Feng Ba's daughter, the princess of Lelang, and offering three thousand horses; and Feng Ba had his ministers deliberate, and Feng Sufu and the rest held that by the precedent of former ages it was always girls of the clan who were married to the six barbarian peoples, and that a daughter of a consort should be given instead and the princess of Lelang should not marry a foreigner; but Feng Ba said that a woman follows her husband and that a thousand li was not far, and that he was honouring the customs of other peoples and would not insult them, and consented, sending the colonel Qin Du with two thousand horse to escort his daughter to Yujiulü Hulu. Yu Chukuzhen came with more than three thousand tribes asking leave to trade and offering a thousand horses, and Feng Ba allowed it and settled them at Yingqiu; and when the Qidan and Kumoxi submitted he made their chief the king of returning allegiance. Towards the Northern Wei, red vapours filled the four quarters and the astronomer told Feng Ba that this was the vapour of war, that the Wei now held the realm by their power and yet there was no envoy between them, that never since antiquity had neighbouring states failed to be on good terms, and that to break righteousness and anger a neighbour was to seek one's own ruin, so that the former envoys should be sent back and peace and a league made; and Feng Ba said he would consider it. Soon afterwards the Wei army came in force, and Feng Ba sent the assistant of the chanyu on the right, Gu Ni, with cavalry to scout; and having gone but fifteen li from the city he met the Wei army and fled back, and the generals sent to meet them with Huangfu Gui were beaten, Huangfu Gui dying of a stray arrow; and the Wei, finding Feng Ba prepared, withdrew their troops. The Northern Wei sent Geng Er as envoy to Northern Yan, and Feng Ba sent the yellow gate attendant Chang Lou to meet him on the road; but Feng Ba, being angry that Geng Er would not style himself his subject, refused to receive him, and afterwards sent Chang Lou to comfort him, at which Geng Er in his turn was angry and would not return thanks. The attendant cavalier Shen Xiu told Feng Ba that he had received Geng Er with courtesy and that the man's arrogance could not be borne, and the palace secretary Feng Yi, wishing for favour, dwelt on Geng Er's insolence to inflame him; but Feng Ba said that in this too men had their own wills, and that if a common man could not be bent, how much less the lord of a state; and when Feng Yi asked leave to imprison Geng Er and force him to submit, Feng Ba kept him and would not let him go. Further, Chu Kuang of Hejian told Feng Ba that by his great virtue he had received Heaven's mandate and risen in the eastern summer, and that the clansmen of his old home looked eastward and found the days long; and that if he were permitted to go and fetch them it would take but little time. Feng Ba asked how he could bring them through several thousand li of passes, and Chu Kuang answered that the place lay near the sea and the water route was open, so that it was not difficult to come out by Linyu in western Liao; and Feng Ba listened to him, gave him a temporary office and much money for the journey, and Chu Kuang soon came with Feng Ba's cousins Feng Mai and Feng Du, bringing more than five thousand households from Changle, whereupon Feng Ba made Feng Mai commandant of the guards and earl of Chengyang, and Feng Du master of ceremonies and earl of Gaocheng.
The Deaths of His Generals, His Last Years, and the Fall of His House
Sun Hu's younger brothers, the prefect of Changli Sun Boren, Sun Chizhi and Sun Yiba, were men of ability known for their valour; and when Feng Ba took the title of Heavenly King they had all hoped for office and had not obtained it, and so murmured, and whenever Feng Ba sacrificed in the ancestral temple they would draw their swords and strike the pillars, saying that they had had merit in founding the state and yet their offices remained those of mere staff officers, and asking whether this was the righteousness of the Han founder in sharing the hills and rivers. Feng Ba was greatly angered and killed them in 415, promoting Sun Hu to comfort him; but Sun Hu, after his three brothers were killed, was constantly sullen, and Feng Ba in anger had him poisoned. Soon afterwards the governor of Liaodong, Wu Yinti, thinking his merit greater than Sun Hu's or Zhang Xing's and yet holding a frontier command, memorialized in resentful terms and secretly plotted rebellion; and Feng Ba in anger had him killed. In the eighth month of 430 Feng Ba fell gravely ill and called the secretary of the central secretariat Shen Xiu and the palace attendant Yang Zhe to his chamber to entrust them with the succession; and in the ninth month, his illness worsening, he rode in a carriage to the Jinluan hall and ordered the heir Feng Yi to take charge of the government and command the whole army against any unforeseen turn. His consort lady Song, wishing to set up her own son Feng Shouju, disliked the heir's conduct of government and told Feng Yi that the emperor's illness was about to mend and that he need not be in such haste to take his father's place. Feng Yi, being gentle and generous by nature, followed her words, withdrew to the eastern palace and went three times a day to visit his father; and once he had gone out lady Song forged edicts forbidding the officers within and without the court to enter to inquire after the emperor's illness, so that Feng Yi and the other princes and the chief civil and military ministers could none of them see the emperor, and only the palace secretary Hu Fu could come and go freely, being charged with the guard of the palace. Hu Fu, much alarmed lest lady Song's plot should succeed, reported her strange conduct to the minister of education, director of the secretariat and duke of Zhongshan, Feng Hong; and Feng Hong went in person with several dozen armed men into the inner palace, the guards of the court dispersing at once without resistance. Lady Song ordered the eastern gate closed, but Feng Hong's servant Kugongtou, quick and strong, vaulted the wall and the gate into the bedchamber and shot a palace woman dead with one arrow; and Feng Ba, seeing what passed from his bed, was so terrified that he breathed his last. Feng Hong came to the Jinluan hall and mounted the throne, sending men to proclaim in the streets that Heaven had sent down calamity and the emperor had died, that the heir Feng Yi had not attended his sickbed nor had the civil and military ministers come to mourn, that treason against the altars was to be feared, and that he therefore, as the Heavenly King's great younger brother, had for the time taken the great seat to steady the state, and that all officials who came to court would be advanced two degrees. The heir Feng Yi led the guards of the eastern palace out against him and was heavily beaten, his men all scattering; and Feng Hong sent men to force him to take his own life, and of Feng Ba's more than a hundred sons he killed them all. Feng Ba was given the posthumous name of Emperor Wencheng and the temple name Taizu.