Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/246

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
227

driven out all his rivals, and ruled the Emperor, who spoke of him as his "colleague," with a rod of iron. He and Chang together defied all attempts to displace them; but the death of the Dowager and of Chang, coupled with the Emperor's growing experience of government, weakened Fêng's position, and in 1582, by the machinations of two rival eunuchs, he was degraded to be Groom of the Imperial Stud at Nanking, where he died.


572 Fêng Po 風伯 or 風神 or 風師. The God of the Winds, also known as 飛廉 Fei Lien. Said by some to be identical with the constellation 箕 Sagittarius; by others to be a supernatural bird; by others again to have the body of a deer, the head of a bird (with horns), the tail of a serpent, and the spots of a leopard. A statue of this being was cast in bronze by the Emperor Wu Ti of the Han dynasty.


573 Fêng Tao 馮道 (T. 可道). A.D. 881-954. A native of 瀛 Ying-chou in modern Chihli, who has been credited by some with the invention of block-printing. Entering the service of Liu Shou-kuang and later on of 張承業 Chang Ch'êng-yeh, he was recommended by the latter to the Prince of Chin and received a post in modern Shansi. When the second Prince of Chin mounted the throne as first Emperor of the Later T'ang dynasty, A.D. 923, Fêng Tao was appointed secretary in the Board of Revenue and member of the Han-lin College. The second Emperor, whom he served for ten years, raised him to still higher rank; yet when in the following reign 從珂 Ts'ung K'o rebelled and subsequently entered the capital, Fêng Tao quietly took service under him. And when Shih Ching-t'ang crushed Ts'ung K'o and founded the Later Chin dynasty, Fêng Tao once more entered the service of his old masters. When the Kitans put an end to the Chin dynasty, Fêng Tao presented himself at the Court of Yeh-lü Tê-kuang, second sovereign of the