Feng Menglong (1574–1646), courtesy names Youlong (猶龍), Gongyu (公魚), Ziyou (子猶), or Eryou (耳猶), was a Chinese historian, novelist, and poet of the late Ming Dynasty.
In spite of his literary talent and his zeal for scholarship from a young age, Feng sat the imperial civil service examinations many times without success, eventually giving up and making a living as a tutor and teacher.
In 1626, he narrowly avoided punishment after being implicated as an associate of Zhou Shunchang (周順昌), who was purged by the eunuch Wei Zhongxian.
Feng Menglong was also known by a variety of pseudonyms or art names (號, hào), including 龍子猶, 墨憨齋主人, 吳下詞奴, 姑蘇詞奴, 前周柱史, 顧曲散人, and 綠天館主人.
In 1644 the Ming state was thrown into turmoil by the sacking of Beijing by Li Zicheng's rebel army and invasion by the Qing forces.
At the age of seventy-one, he published the Grand Proposals for National Rejuvenation (中興偉略) to inspire his countrymen to repel the invaders.
[3] He is frequently associated with Ling Mengchu, author of Slapping the Table in Amazement, a two-part collection of entertaining vernacular tales.
Feng Menglong also expressed his attitudes towards society through his works, which were heavily influenced by his interactions with officialdom and the Chinese literati.