CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · History & Society

Feng Zicai

General in the Imperial Army during the Qing dynasty

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ3068368
Source-derived summary

Feng Zicai (traditional Chinese: 馮子才; simplified Chinese: 冯子才; pinyin: Féng Zǐcaī; Wade–Giles: Feng Tzu-ts'ai) (1818–1903) was a general in the Imperial Army during the Qing dynasty who helped suppress the Taiping Rebellion and fend off a French invasion in the Sino-French War. He was originally a bandit from Qinzhou, Guangxi.

Early life

Feng Zicai’s ancestors lived for generations in Shatouwai (沙头圩), Nanhai County, Guangdong Province (now part of Guangzhou). During the Qianlong era, the area was hit by floods, so Feng Zicai’s grandfather moved to Shawei (沙尾) Village outside Qinzhou. Feng Zicai was born there on 27 July 1818.

Feng Zicai had a very tough childhood. He lost his mother at the age of 4 and his father at 10. His maternal uncle, Mr. Li (黎), wanted to adopt him, but Feng Zicai refused and lived with his grandmother and older brother. He attended school for only two months before quitting.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Feng Zicai” as general in the Imperial Army during the Qing dynasty. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Feng, Zicai and General.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1818, 1903—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1818-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Feng, Zicai and General providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Feng Zicai”, the useful work is to connect “general in the Imperial Army during the Qing dynasty” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3068368. VIAF identifies the subject as 36023258. The Library of Congress control number is n88276121. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1818 and 1903.

Critical limits

Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Feng Zicai”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Feng Zicai primary sources, Feng Zicai archive and Feng research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Feng Zicai”?
  2. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
  3. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Feng Zicai” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.