Xihuyuyinzhuren

Xihuyuyinzhuren, often rendered from the Chinese name 西湖渔隐主人, is the pseudonymous author traditionally credited with Huanxi Yuanjia (A Happy Enemy), a work of late imperial Chinese fiction. Modern catalogues and reprint projects list the name as an authorial byline, but they do not appear to preserve a confirmed personal identity.

That makes this author unusual even by the standards of older Chinese literature, where pen names were common. In this case, the pseudonym has outlasted the biographical record, so readers tend to encounter the writer through the surviving text rather than through a documented life story.

For audiobook listeners, that can be part of the appeal: the book comes from a world of colorful literary aliases, circulating editions, and half-hidden histories. What remains clear is the author’s place in the tradition of classical Chinese popular fiction, where the work itself became far more visible than the person who wrote it.