Viceroy of Liangjiang
Feng was born to a family of wealthy Suzhou landowners in Wuxian in China's Jainsu Province in 1809. After finishing a degree in "jinshi", he started working as a compiler at the Hanlin Academy in 1840 and later became the civil service examination supervisor in Guangxi Province. He also finally served as a private secretary to the Viceroy of Liangjiang, Li Hongzhang.