Who is the author of The Scholars? How many times has it been circulated?

The Scholars is a novel written by Wu in Qing Dynasty. This book was written by the author in his thirties and was not finished until he was nearly 50 years old. At first, it was circulated in the society as a manuscript, and the legend was 50 times. More than ten years after Wu's death, there were 55 editions in Yangzhou, but not today. The earliest existing version is the version of Sleeping Cottage in the eighth year of Jiaqing (1803), with a total of 56 editions, but the 56th edition seems to have been supplemented by others. During Guangxu period, there were 60 more trips to Shi Yinben, and the last four trips seemed to be made up by others. People's Literature Publishing House now has 55 books.