active 16th century-17th century Yingyu Zhang

Little is firmly known about this Ming-dynasty writer beyond his surviving work, so modern sources usually describe him as active in the late 16th to early 17th century. He is credited with compiling The Book of Swindles (Du pian xin shu), a collection of stories about fraud, deception, and human weakness.

The book is often dated to around 1617 and is set against the world of late Ming society. Its tales of cheats, schemes, and confidence tricks are lively on the surface, but they also preserve details about travel, trade, social ambition, and everyday danger.

What makes his writing memorable is the mix of storytelling and moral commentary. The stories are entertaining in their own right, yet they also read like practical lessons in how easily people can be misled.