The 冯 surname

Feng (冯) is one of the surnames of Taishan. It comes from the Ji (姬) surname, and most Feng families of Guangdong honor as their founding ancestor Feng Ye (冯业), who crossed the sea to Guangdong during the Northern and Southern dynasties. According to Origins of Taishan's Surnames (《台山姓氏源流》), after the fall of the Song, Feng Zhiren (冯志仁) took his family into seclusion at Wudong (乌洞, in today's Guanghai area), founded Shuangmen Village (双门村), and so began the Feng of Guanghai (广海); after that, branches of the Feng from Xinhui (新会), Kaiping (开平), Enping (恩平) and elsewhere moved in one after another. The Feng of Taishan live mainly in the area from south of Duanfen (端芬) to Beidou (北陡) and Nafu (那扶), with Guanghai as the center.^[1][2]

Origin of the surname[edit]

As the book's chapter on the Feng quotes it, the Feng “descend from the Ji surname, from the descendants of Duke Gao of Bi (毕公高), who held the fief of the city of Feng (冯城), and so took their clan name”: Duke Gao of Bi, a son of King Wen of Zhou, was enfeoffed at the city of Feng, and his descendants took Feng as their surname, though some descendants kept Bi as their surname.^[1]

How the Feng came to Guangdong[edit]

The chapter traces the Feng of Guangdong as follows: in the Sixteen Kingdoms period, after Feng Ba (冯跋), ruler of the Northern Yan (北燕), died, his younger brother Feng Hong (冯弘) succeeded him; the Northern Yan was destroyed by the Northern Wei, and Feng Hong fled to Goguryeo (高丽). Feng Hong's son Feng Ye led three hundred people across the sea to Guangdong and settled in Panyu (番禺). This was in the Yuanjia period of the Song of the Southern dynasties (the text gives the 14th year of Yuanjia, that is, 437); he was made Governor of Xinhui Commandery (新会郡) and Marquis of Huaihua (怀化侯), and he is the founding ancestor of the Feng of Guangdong. Feng Ye's grandson Feng Rong (冯融) served as Inspector of Luozhou (罗州), and Feng Rong's son Feng Bao (冯宝) served as Governor of Gaoliang Commandery (高凉郡) and married a daughter of the Xian (冼) family of the Yue people, namely Lady Xian (冼夫人). Feng Bao's grandson Feng Ang (冯盎) led Lingnan (岭南) to submit to the Tang in the 5th year of Wude of the Tang (622) and was made Supreme Pillar of State (上柱国), Area Commander of Gaozhou (高州总管) and Duke of Yue (越国公); from then on the Feng multiplied into a great clan in Lingnan.^[1]

Feng Ye's 15th-generation descendant Feng Yuan (冯元), courtesy name Daozong (道宗), posthumous name Zhangjing (章靖), became a jinshi (palace graduate) in the 1st year of Dazhong Xiangfu of the Northern Song (1008), rose to Vice Minister of Revenue (户部侍郎), was posthumously granted the title of Minister (尚书), and was enshrined among the local worthies of Guangdong (广东乡贤). Feng Yuan's grandson Dalang (大郎) had two sons, Xuanying (玄英) and Xuanxiong (玄雄), both of whom moved to Gugang Prefecture (古冈州, today's Xinhui). Xuanying's fourth son Feng Qiao (冯乔) is Ningbang Gong (宁邦公), whom the text calls a jinshi of the Ming dynasty; Xuanxiong's grandson Feng Quan (冯铨) settled at Gulaoli (古劳里) in Xinhui.^[1]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

Shuangmen Village, Guanghai

Feng Quan's eldest son Feng Zhiren, art name Zhongshuo (仲朔), according to the chapter, rose in the reign of Emperor Lizong of the Southern Song to Governor of Lingnan and concurrently Minister of Works (工部尚书), stationed at Gugang Prefecture. When the Yuan armies came south and the Song fell after the battle of Yamen (崖门), Feng Zhiren, unwilling to surrender to the Yuan, took his family to Wudong (today's Guanghai) to live in seclusion and founded Shuangmen Village (today's Shuangmen Village of the Lintian (临田) Village Committee, Guanghai Town); from then on there were Feng in Guanghai. Feng Zhiren's two sons, Boying (伯英) and Bosheng (伯盛), both died in Xinhui; those who went south with him were his four grandsons, Shuyuan (叔元), Shuheng (叔亨), Shuli (叔利) and Shuzhen (叔祯). Through the Yuan and Ming dynasties the clan grew to more than four hundred men.^[1]

Early in the Kangxi reign of the Qing, the court ordered the evacuation of the coast (迁界) (the text gives the 2nd year of Kangxi), and several hundred Feng of Shuangmen Village fled; when they were allowed to return home three years later, it is said that only “eighteen hair nets” (十八条网巾), that is, eighteen grown men, came back. During the evacuation Shuzhen's branch settled at Sancha (三汊) in Yangjiang (阳江), and its descendants live in Sancha, Zhapo (闸坡) and elsewhere.^[1]

The three branches of Ningbang

Feng Ningbang had three sons: the eldest, Shuaiwei (帅卫), lived in Zhongpu Township (中浦乡), Xinhui; the second, Shuaijing (帅靖), lived at Nazhu (那竹), Kaiping; and the third, Shuaijie (帅杰), lived at Shachong (沙涌) and later moved to Xigangshafu (犀岗沙富). The descendants of the three branches moved into Taishan one after another:^[1]

• The Zhongpu branch (中浦房): at the end of the Ming, Shuaiwei's grandson Bajiang (八将) moved from Xinhui to Duanfen and founded Daling Village (大岭村); later Shuaiwei's 5th-generation descendant Zhaojing (兆敬) moved to Datianwei (大田尾), Duanfen.
• The Nazhu branch (那竹房): before the coastal evacuation, Shuaijing's grandson Shou'en (授恩) and his son Weifeng (维风) moved from Nazhu to Shilan (石栏), Guanghai. During the evacuation, Weifeng's three sons, Yunzhang (运璋), Yunju (运举) and Yunhong (运宏), took refuge in Taicheng (台城); after the coast was reopened, Weifeng's grandsons Qisheng (启升), Qiling (启龄), Qifa (启发), Qilun (启伦), Zhenjin (桢进) and others moved back to Shilan Village and Shuanglong Village (双龙村), and only Qiri (启日) stayed on at Ximenjie (西门街), Taicheng. In the Qianlong reign of the Qing, three more branches moved out of Shilan Village: Zhenxing (桢行) and Zhenyu (桢裕) moved to Lintiancunlongmeili (临田村龙美里), Guanghai, and Zhen'en (桢恩) moved to Shuilong Village (水垅村), Guanghai.
• The Xijiang branch (犀江房): the descendants of Shuaijie's 8th-generation descendant Guancheng (观成), Zongmu (宗慕), Yongyuan (永原), Siyou (思猷) and others, moved after the coast was reopened from Nazhu to Lintianbeitou (临田北头), Guanghai; Sineng (思能) moved to Dayangcunxitou (大洋村西头), Guanghai.

Other origins

• Before Xinning County (新宁) was established (in the 12th year of Hongzhi of the Ming, 1499), Feng families were already living, in fairly large numbers, at Dabutou (大步头), Naqinwubao (那琴五堡), Zhaimen (寨门) and other places in today's Beidou Town; the Feng of Nafu, Xiaojiang (小江) and other places moved in from Enping.^[1]
• Around the 18th year of Kangxi (1679), the five sons by concubines of General Feng Huaiyuan (冯怀远) settled at Jiuyanqiao (九眼桥) in Shunde (顺德), and his 3rd-generation descendant Feng Daozhang (冯道璋) moved to Fengwuxiang (冯屋巷) in the walled town of Guanghai (广海城). According to the chapter, Fengwuxiang was the fief the Qing court gave Feng Huaiyuan.^[1]
• After the walled town of Guanghai was built, more than ten Feng households from Xinhui and Kaiping moved in one after another, among them Hongyi (洪译), who moved from Xinhui to Juzixiang (桔子巷). According to the Fushi Gazetteer (《浮石志》), the Second and Seventh Wards (坊) of Fushi (浮石) had 15 Feng households with 67 people in all.^[1]
• When the Feng of Nakai Village (那开村), Shalan (沙栏), and of Yongning Village (永宁村), Haiyan (海宴), moved in is unknown. Also, according to Huang Renfu (黄仁夫), quoting the Taishan County Gazetteer of Local Lore (《台山县乡土志》), the Feng of Nantou (南头), Haiyan, likewise say they came from Zhuji Lane (珠玑巷) in Nanxiong (南雄).^[1][3]
• In the 15th year of the Republic (1926), because of banditry, more than thirty Feng households of Zhongxing bao (中兴堡, the area of today's Dayang (大洋) and Lintian in Guanghai Town) went to Southeast Asia (南洋) to make a living.^[1]

Distribution[edit]

According to the chapter, the Feng of Taishan are spread from south of Duanfen all the way to Beidou and Nafu, with Guanghai as the center. Because they live scattered, the number of Feng in Taishan could not be counted when the book was compiled.^[1]

Ancestral halls[edit]

• Feng Yuan Weng Ancestral Hall (冯元翁祖祠): in the walled town of Guanghai, the main ancestral hall of the Feng of Taishan. According to the chapter, in the Qianlong reign of the Qing, Feng Chengxiu (冯成秀), passing through Guanghai on his way to Haiyan to build the Dacheng polder (大成围), proposed building it as a gathering place for the Feng of the whole county; every year on the 8th day of the first lunar month the ancestors were worshipped, and each branch sent a representative to receive the sacrificial meat. Later the Taishan Branch of the Guangdong Provincial Feng Surname Self-Government Federation (广东省冯姓自治联合会台山分会) was also housed in the hall, and the Feng branches opened the Peiyuan Primary School (培元小学校) in it.^[1]
• Wujin Study Hall (武津书室): on Changlong Street (昌隆街), Taicheng, where young men of the Feng surname lodged and boarded while studying and when they went to sit the county school examinations.^[1]