Ye Jian (1932) was born in Lantian, Shaanxi Province. He entered the Northwest Art School in 1949, and in the period 1950-1977, he worked for the Northwest Mass Daily (西北群众日报), the Shaanxi Daily (陕西日报), the propaganda department of the Central Party Committee of Yan’an, and the Xi’an Municipal Art Company. In 1978, he transferred to the Shaanxi Daily to become head of the art section, and in 1985, he became head of the Shaanxi News Research Office of the same organization.

Ye is known for his cartoons and his Chinese paintings.