Wang Shizhen
He was born in Xuancheng. Mei's family consisted of academics and owned a large library of their own. Mei was friends with Tang Xianzu, Wang Shizhen, and Wang Daokun. His teacher was Jiang Qifang. Mei collected books. He would meet with his friends to share books they recently acquired. He failed imperial examinations and became a full-time writer. Mei's hired his own workers to create woodblocks for his books. He also published his books himself.