Jiang Tingxi courtesy name Yangsun (杨孙), was a Chinese painter, and an editor

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

 of the encyclopedia

Encyclopedia

An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....

 Gujin Tushu Jicheng

Gujin Túshu Jíchéng

The Gujin Tushu Jicheng , is a vast encyclopaedic work written in China during the reigns of Qing emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng, completed in 1725. The work was headed initially by scholar Chen Menglei , and later by Jiang Tingxi. It contained 800,000 pages and over 100 million Chinese characters...

(Complete Collection of Ancient and Modern Writings and Charts).

Jiang was born in Changshu, Jiangsu

Changshu

Changshu is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, and is located in the south-eastern part of eastern-China’s Jiangsu Province as well as the Yangtze River Delta...

. Besides the name Yangsun, he was also known by the courtesy name Youjun (酉君), as well as the pseudonyms Nansha (南沙), Qingtong Jushi, Qiujun, and XiGu (西谷).

The 5020-volume state-sponsored encyclopedia Gǔjīn Túshū Jíchéng (Traditional Chinese: 古今圖書集成; Simplified Chinese: 古今图书集成; literally "Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times") was published in 1726 and had been compiled by Chen Menglei and Jiang Tingxi during the reigns of Qing

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

s Kangxi and Yongzheng.

As an official painter and grand secretary to the imperial court, Jiang Tingxi used a wide variety of artistic styles, and focused particularly on paintings of birds and flowers. He was also proficient in calligraphy

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

.

Although better known for his Gujin Tushu Jicheng, Jiang also contributed—along with other scholars—in the compilation of the "Daqing Yitongzhi" ('Gazetteer of the Qing Empire'). This geographical gazetteer

Gazetteer

A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social...

was provided with a preface in 1744 (more than a decade after Jiang's death), revised in 1764, and reprinted in 1849.