Feng Yanji facts for kids
Feng Yanji (also known as Feng Yansi) was a famous poet and a top government advisor in China during a time called the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. He served the second emperor of the Southern Tang kingdom, Li Jing. Feng Yanji was known for his clever writing and his important role in politics.
Early Life
Feng Yanji was born in the year 903. He grew up in a place called Guangling, which is now Yangzhou in Jiangsu province. His father, Feng Lingjun, was a military officer. Feng Yanji also had a younger half-brother named Feng Yanlu, who also became an important politician later on. Even though they were half-brothers and sometimes worked together, they didn't always get along well.
When Feng Yanji was young, his father was given an important job managing salt and iron in She Prefecture. Feng Yanji went with his father. When he was 13, the local leader, Gu Yan, became very sick. Rumors spread that Gu was dead, which made the soldiers worried. Feng Yanji, at his father's request, went to see Gu. After leaving, he shared Gu's words with the officers, which helped calm everyone down. As he grew older, Feng Yanji became known for his elegant style and excellent writing skills.
Serving Emperor Li Bian
Later, Feng Yanji met Li Bian, who had become the emperor of the new Southern Tang kingdom. Li Bian gave Feng Yanji a job as an assistant at the Palace Library. When Li Bian's oldest son, Li Jing, became a general in 939, Feng Yanji became his secretary. He also held another important position in the ministry of defense.
Feng Yanji became good friends with Li Jing's advisor, Chen Jue. Because Chen Jue was close to the powerful advisor Song Qiqiu, Feng Yanji also became part of Song's group of supporters. It was said that Feng Yanji tried to get rid of other officials in Li Jing's office who had higher positions than him. He once joked with a higher-ranked official, Sun Sheng, asking, "What special skills do you have to be in such a high position?" Sun Sheng, who didn't like Feng Yanji, replied that while Feng Yanji was good at writing and humor, his cleverness could also be dangerous for the country.
Feng Yanji and his brother Feng Yanlu often suggested allowing people to sell their children into service. However, Emperor Li Bian disagreed, saying it would harm poor families. An official named Chang Mengxi often spoke to Li Bian against Feng Yanji, Chen Jue, and Wei Cen. Li Bian thought about removing them from Li Jing's staff, but he didn't do it before he became very ill and died in 943.
When Li Bian died, Li Jing was ready to become the new emperor. Feng Yanji was happy about this and often went to the palace to report to Li Jing, sometimes three or four times a day. Li Jing found this a bit too much and told him, "A secretary has his own duties. Why are you being so bothersome?" Feng Yanji and Feng Yanlu were in charge of writing Li Bian's final wishes. They secretly added the rule allowing the sale of children, which Li Bian had always opposed. Another official, Xiao Yan, told Li Jing about this. Li Jing checked his father's old records and found it was true, but since the document was already public, he decided not to change it.
During Li Jing's Reign
After Li Jing became emperor, he let Chen Jue handle many government matters. Feng Yanji, Feng Yanlu, Wei Cen, and Cha Wenhui were all close to Chen Jue and had a lot of influence. Their critics even called them the "Five Ghosts" because of their power. Feng Yanji received several important government titles, including deputy minister of census and chief imperial scholar. He soon became a deputy head of the legislative bureau.
In 944, Li Jing wanted his younger brothers, Li Jingsui and Li Jingda, to eventually become emperor. Feng Yanji and his allies tried to use this to control who could talk to the emperor. They encouraged Li Jing to issue an order saying that only two specific officials, Chen Jue and Cha Wenhui, could report to the emperor. This caused a big shock in the country. Luckily, an officer named Jia Chong convinced Li Jing to change his mind.
In 945, when Cha Wenhui was leading an army to attack the Min kingdom's capital, Jian Prefecture, Feng Yanji, Feng Yanlu, and Wei Cen strongly pushed for the army to get lots of supplies. It was said that the government's money ran out, and people in nearby areas suffered greatly. Cha Wenhui eventually captured Jian Prefecture, and the Southern Tang took control of a large part of Min territory. However, Min's old capital, Fú Prefecture, was still held by a local leader named Li Hongyi.
When Chen Jue went to persuade Li Hongyi to give up Fú, Li Hongyi was rude and refused. Chen Jue then made up an order in Li Jing's name, gathering troops for Feng Yanlu to lead a campaign against Li Hongyi. But in 947, the Southern Tang army was badly defeated by forces from the Wuyue kingdom and had to retreat. This ended Southern Tang's hopes of taking all of Min territory.
Meanwhile, in 946, Li Jing made Feng Yanji a top advisor (chancellor), along with Li Jianxun. Li Jianxun was good at managing things but couldn't make quick decisions. Feng Yanji was good at writing but was seen as unfair and biased in his decisions. He often used grand words to make his wrong ideas sound right. In 947, Li Jing made his brother Li Jingsui the Crown Prince. Feng Yanji, wanting to impress Li Jingsui and Li Jingda, once patted Li Jingda's back at a party and said, "You shouldn't forgive me!" Li Jingda was offended and immediately went to Li Jing, demanding that Feng Yanji be executed. Li Jing had to spend a lot of time convincing Li Jingda not to do this.
After Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu's defeat, Li Jing thought about punishing them severely. An official named Jiang Wenwei submitted a report that criticized not only Chen and Feng Yanlu but also Feng Yanji and Wei Cen. Li Jing was angry, thinking the report was exaggerated, and demoted Jiang. He then exiled Chen and Feng Yanlu instead of killing them. Feng Yanji was also demoted to an advisor role for the Crown Prince Li Jingsui. He later left government service for a while to mourn his mother, then returned to a general title and became a senior advisor to Li Jingsui.
In 952, Li Jing again made Feng Yanji a chancellor. Feng also received another important government title. When the announcement about the new chancellors was read, Chang Mengxi publicly made fun of it. Sun Sheng, who didn't think highly of Feng, privately said, "How can a golden goblet and a jade bowl now hold dog waste?" As chancellor again, Feng Yanji told Li Jing that chancellors should have full power to make decisions. Li Jing agreed and gave Feng full authority. However, Feng didn't actually have the ability to handle everything himself, so he relied on other officials. Seeing this, Li Jing started making his own decisions again.
Feng Yanji was able to keep Li Jing's favor because he constantly suggested ways to take over the Central Plains region of China. He became so confident that he openly criticized Li Bian's focus on peace, praising Li Jing for being willing to use force.
One big decision Li Jing faced was what to do with the lands of the Chu kingdom, which had surrendered to Southern Tang in 951. Southern Tang only controlled one of Chu's three main areas. Another area was controlled by a Chu general, Liu Yan, and a third by the Southern Han kingdom. Li Jing wanted to take these areas by force, but by 952, he was tired of the fighting. He thought about giving up on one area and just trying to get Liu Yan to be loyal to him. Sun Sheng agreed, but Feng Yanji disagreed, saying it would make Southern Tang look weak. Li Jing agreed with Feng and continued the campaigns. However, the general Li Jing sent to attack was defeated, and Southern Tang lost control of the area they had gained from Chu. Because of this, both Feng Yanji and Sun Sheng resigned their chancellor positions, but they kept their other titles. However, Feng Yanji was made chancellor again in spring 953.
In 956, during a major invasion by the Later Zhou kingdom, Li Jing sent Sun Sheng to meet with the Later Zhou emperor, Guo Rong, hoping to stop the war. Sun Sheng pointed out to Feng Yanji that Feng, having a higher title, should have gone, but Sun went anyway despite the danger. As Sun feared, his efforts failed, and Guo Rong had him killed. The war finally ended in 958 when Southern Tang gave up all its land north of the Yangtze River and agreed to be a smaller kingdom under Later Zhou's rule. After this agreement, Li Jing sent Feng Yanji to Guo Rong's court to give them silver, fabric, money, tea, and grains for Guo's army.
Soon after, since Southern Tang was now a smaller kingdom, many high-ranking officials' titles were lowered to show submission to Later Zhou. Feng Yanji was no longer chancellor and became a senior advisor to the new crown prince, Li Jing's son Li Hongji. Feng Yanji died in 960.
Feng Yanji was very famous for his poetry, which he continued to write even when he was old. He especially liked writing poems that could be set to music.
