On November 9, Feng Zikai was born in the hall of Fengtongyu dyehouse, in Shimenwan, Chongde County, Zhejiang Province (now Shimen Town, Tongxiang City). His father's name is Feng Huang (1865-1906), and his mother is Zhong Yunfang (?-1930). He is the seventh kid in his family, but is the eldest son.
He became interested in painting and started to copy Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting.
The private school he was enrolled in was renamed as Xixi Second-class Primary School, the site of which was in Xizhu Nunnery around the Shimen Bay.
The Xixi Second-class Primary School was changed to The Third Higher Primary School of Chongde County.
Feng Zikai was engaged to Xu Limin (1896-1983), the eldest daughter of Xu Ruisun (1865-1929), the education superintendent of Chongde County.、
In February, Feng Zikai wrote four fables in classical Chinese and published them in Junior Magazine. The four works, The Hunter: Abandon Greed and Restrain Desire, The Cheater: Abandon Deception and Pursue Integrity, Vine and Laurel: Abandon Reliance and Achieve Self-reliance, and The Fowler: Refuse Blame-shifting and Establish Solidarity, are the earliest published literary works of Mr. Feng known thus far.
He studied painting, music, Chinese and Japanese from Li Shutong (1889-1942) and Xia Mianzun (1886-1946).
Feng Zikai participated in the school's "Tongyin Art Association" (later renamed as "Foreign Painting Research Association") and the "Leshi Club" (later renamed as "Ji Club"), which was a research association of seal cutting.
He published poems to different tunes, such as Xixiliu and Langtaosha, in the 16th issue of Alumni Association Journal of The 1st Normal School of Zhejiang Province . This is the earliest published poetry of Mr. Feng, known so far.
In may, he made a sketch called "Outside the Qingtai Gate".
On August 19, his mentor, Li Shutong, became a monk in the Hupao Dinghui Temple in Hangzhou, with Hongyi as his Buddhist name.
On March 13, Feng Zikai married Xu Limin.
In July, he graduated from The 1st Normal School of Zhejiang Province.
In autumn, with his classmates Wu Mengfei (1893-1979) and Liu Zhiping (1894-1978), he established Shanghai Normal Specialised Postsecondary College in a lane on the Huangjiaque Road around Xiaoximen (now Huangpu District), Shanghai. He served as the dean of studies, teaching western painting. At the same time, he did part-time teaching in East Asia Sports School, Aiguo Female School, Chengdong Female School and other schools, and published "Teaching Methods of Painting" in the first issue of the School Journal of East Asia Sports School (published in December), which is considered as the first article about art theories published by Feng Zikai so far.
On April 20, the Chinese Aesthetic Education Association published a monthly academic journal, whose name, Aesthetic Education, signified that it was the first journal of aesthetic education in China. At that time, Feng Zikai was one of the editors, and successively published works on art such as The Life of Painters, Faithful Painting and The Three Great Painters of the Renaissance.
In the early spring, Feng Zikai took the IJN YAMASHIRO passenger liner to Tokyo and made a study trip there. He studied oil painting in Kawabata Painting School and the NIKA Association. He accidentally saw the works of Japanese cartoonist Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934) and became interested in it . During his ten-month study in Japan, he made friends with Chen Zhifo (1896-1962), Guan Liang (1900-1986) and other students.
In the early autumn, Xia yuzun (1886-1946) introduced Feng Zikai to Chunhui middle school by Baima Lake to teach painting and music. He moved to Baima Lake in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province. He named his house "Small Willow House" because there was a williow planned near the residence. In his spare time, he studied the theory of literature and art, and began to draw stick figures with brushes. His painting style was influenced by painters such as Takehisa Yumeji and Chen Shizeng (1876-1923).
On December 16, his cartoons "Mr. Jing Ziyuan's Speech" and "Female Visitors — Ningbo Women's Normal School" were published in the fourth issue of Chunhui Middle School journal. This is the earliest cartoon published by Feng Zikai known so far.
He still taught at Chunhui School, and taught part-time in Ningbo No. 4 Middle School and Yude Primary School.
He participated in the "Literature Research Association" founded by Mao Dun (1896-1981) and Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958).
Amicis’s Cuore was translated by Xia Mianzun and serialized in Eastern Miscellany, and Feng Zikai illustrated it and designed its cover.
In July, his cartoon After People Left, A Crescent Moon Hangs over the Sky That as Quiet as Water was published in a magazine called Our July.
The name of the school song of Chunhui Middle School was from the Song of the Parting Son written by Meng Jiao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. Feng Zikai composed music for it.
Some teaches of Chunhui Middle School disagreed with the school authority, so many people resigned. Later, Kuang Husheng, together with some teachers and students, moved to Shanghai.
In December, Shanghai Yadong Library published Trace, a collection of Zhu Ziqing's (1898-1948) poems and essays, and Feng Zikai painted the cover for it.
At the beginning of the year, Kuang Husheng and other people established Lida Middle School in Shanghai. Feng Zikai was one of the founders. At the same time, he did part-time teaching in Shanghai Normal Specialised Postsecondary College.
In March, the "Lida Institute" was established. Feng Zikai is a member of the institue standing committee.
In the summer, Lida Middle School was renamed "Lida College". Feng Zikai was appointed member of the Board of Regents and head of the Western Painting Department.
In may, he was hired as a special writer of Literary Weekly in Shanghai. The Literary Weekly published Feng's painting "The Swallow Return, But Man Don't", which was edited by Zheng Zhenduo. Feng Zikai began to sign TK on his paintings (According to the Wade-Giles romanization, his name is Fong, Tse ka).
In December, the Literary Weekly newspaper office published Zikai Cartoons, which is the earliest cartoon collection of Mr. Feng known so far. Besides his own preface, Zheng Zhenduo, Xia Mianzun, Ding Yanyong (1902-1978), Zhu Ziqing and Yu Boping (1900-1990) also wrote prefaces to his collection. In the same month, Shanghai Yadong Library published Feng Zikai's first music theory work, Common Sense of Music.
He illustrated Yu Boping's Yi, a collection of children's poetry.
In March, the Chinese version of Cuore translated by Xia Mianzun was published by Kaiming Publishing House. Feng Zikai illustrated it and designed its cover.
In the spring, he went to Zhaoxian Temple by the West Lake in Hangzhou with Xia Mianzun to visist Master Hongyi. In the summer, along with Master Hongyi, he visited Chengnan Cottage, and composed an article entitled Fawei (Taste of Dharma) to record it.
In autumn and winter, during Master Hongyi's stay in Shanghai, he lived in Feng Zikai's house. Master Hongyi drew straws to choose a name for Fengzi Kai's house and it got the name "Yuanyuan Hall".
In September, Lida Institute start a publication, General, inviting Feng Zikai to be the art binding designer and writer. The new school building of Lida Middle School was completed in Jiangwan Bay in the northern suburb of Shanghai, and Feng Zikai moved to Yongyili street.
He joined the "Authors' Association", a progressive organization in Shanghai, and concurrently served as a teacher in Chengzhong Middle School and Fudan Experimental High School.
In February, Kaiming Publishing House published the second volume of "Zikai's Paintings, and Zhu Ziqing made a preface for it.
On October 21, following Master Hongyi, Feng Zikai converted to Buddhism and obtained his Buddhist name "Yingxing".
On the morning of November 27, he visited Lu Xun (1881-1936) with his students including Tao Yuanqing (1893-1929).
