Feng Dao

Feng Dao
Feng Dao as depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu
Born	882 Jingcheng, Ying Prefecture, Tang dynasty
Died	21 May 954 (aged 71–72)
Nationality	Chinese
Occupation	Chancellor
Known for	Improvements to the printing process
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	馮道
Simplified Chinese	冯道
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Féng Dào Wade–Giles Feng Tao IPA [fə̌ŋ tâʊ] Middle Chinese Middle Chinese /bɨuŋ dɑuX/
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	可道
Simplified Chinese	可道
Literal meaning	Suits the Way
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Kědào
Second alternative Chinese name
Chinese	瀛文懿王
Literal meaning	Prince Wenyi of Ying
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yíng Wényì Wáng

Feng Dao (Chinese: 馮道; 882^[1] – 21 May 954^[1][2]), courtesy name Kedao (可道), also known by his Later Zhou-bestowed posthumous name Prince Wenyi of Ying (瀛文懿王), was a Chinese inventor, printer, and politician. He was a government official during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, who served, in chronological order, the Jie Yan, Later Tang, Later Jin, Liao, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties. He was chancellor of the Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Zhou dynasties.

For his contribution to improving block-printing process for printing Chinese written works, scholars have compared him to the German inventor and blacksmith Johannes Gutenberg. Traditional histories praised him for his various virtues but also vilified him for not being faithful to a single dynasty but being willing to serve a number of successive dynasties (see Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang below). Feng Dao is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.