Ah Er (1915), of Mongolian ethnicity, was born in Beijing under the name Jiang Feihong (蒋飞虹). Without formal training, he started drawing caricatures in 1936. His work was published in established journals. Later, he worked in the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Area under CCP-control, where he headed cultural endeavours set up by the military and was responsible for the publication of illustrated journals that circulated in the liberated areas.

In the 1960s, Ah Er was involved in the modernization of packaging of products produced for export. He later became Vice-Director of the Beijing Municipal Art Company.