Pseudonym of the compiler/arranger (biāncì 編次) of KR4k0280 Yù Jiāo Lí 玉嬌梨. The pen name means “The Wanderer Who Harvests Cogongrass and Reed” (tí 荑 = cogongrass sprouts; dí 荻 = reed; sǎnrén 散人 = a free-spirited wanderer or recluse). Both tí and dí are humble plants associated with the margins of civilization and with rural simplicity, making the name a gesture of self-deprecation characteristic of Qing popular fiction authors. The credit biāncì 編次 (“compiled and arranged”) rather than zhù 著 (“authored”) may indicate that the author wished to suggest he was transmitting an existing work rather than creating a new one, a conventional fiction common in Qing popular novels.
The novel is generally dated to the early Qing, approximately 1640–1680, based on internal evidence (Ming setting and institutions) and textual history. The author’s identity has not been established by any scholar; no CBDB record matches.