Ni Gengye's date and place of birth are unknown. He has left a large body of works, many of them so-called calendar posters (月份牌). He worked for the Advertising Department of the British American Tobacco Company (BATCO), for which he designed "Hademen" (哈德门) and other cigarette advertisements. He also designed the monthly advertisement image of the Qidong Tobacco Company (启东烟草公司).