Wu Cheng'en

Wu Cheng'en was born around 1500, around 1504 according to Renditions, in Jiangsu, and lived in Huai'an. His father loved reading; he was a craftsman (a merchant according to Renditions). He failed the examinations several times and entered the imperial university in Nanjing only late in life. Appointed late in life to a post at Changxing, he left it after two years, out of disgust with the office (imprisoned on a false accusation according to Renditions). He lived poor and childless, and died around 1582; a relative afterwards gathered his writings.

In the catalogue 1

• NovelJourney to the West西遊記Wu Cheng'en · 1592Literature