Born 1882 in Chihli (now Hopeh) Province; died August 1948. Chinese political and military figure.
The son of a stonemason, Feng began his military career as a soldier. After the Hsinhai Revolution of 1911–13, he held various command positions in the forces of the North Chinese militarists. In October 1924 he turned against Wu P’ei-fu, a leader of the Chihli clique, and, after seizing Peking, carried out a coup d’etat. Feng invited Soviet military specialists to China as advisers; he reorganized his forces, naming them the Nationalist Army (Kuominchün), and established links with the revolutionary government of Sun Yat-sen in the south.
In 1926, Feng joined the Kuomintang. During the Northern Campaign of 1926–27, Feng supported the National Revolutionary Army and carried out military operations against the militarists in Honan. In summer 1927, following the example of Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei, he turned against the revolution. He later criticized the policies of Chiang Kai-shek on several occasions. During the war with Japan (1937–45), Feng was a consistent patriot and an advocate of cooperation with the Chinese Communists. After the war, in the USA, he made a final break with Chiang Kai-shek. Feng died in an accident.