Western Yan
Feng Ba's grandfather Feng He (馮和) was ethnically Han Chinese and was said to have settled down in Shangdang Commandery (上黨, roughly modern Changzhi, Shanxi) in the aftermaths of the conquest of the northern half of Jin during the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin by Han Zhao. Feng Ba's father Feng An (馮安) later served the Western Yan emperor Murong Yong as a general. When Western Yan was destroyed by the Later Yan emperor Murong Chui in 394, Feng An's household was forcibly moved to Helong (和龍, also known as Longcheng (龍城), in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning), where Feng Ba grew up, apparently under heavy Xianbei influence, for his nickname Qizhifa suggested Xianbei origin. He had three younger brothers, all of whom admired heroic behavior and largely ignored social restraints, but Feng Ba himself was considered to be careful and diligent, managing his household well. During Murong Bao's reign, he became a general. He came to respect Murong Bao's adoptive son Murong Yun the Duke of Zhaoyang, and they became great friends.