Xiang Shengmo

1597-1658 Chinese

Verbond Song-realisme met Yuan-expressie

Xiang Shengmo(项圣谟) (1597–1658), originally named Yi(逸), later named Kongzhang(孔彰), also known as Yi'an(易庵) and Xushanqiao(胥山樵), was a painter from Jiaxing, Zhejiang, active during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He came from a family of art and calligraphy collectors—his grandfather Xiang Yuanbian(项元汴) was a famous collector in the late Ming. Xiang Shengmo started learning painting from a young age and was also skilled in poetry and prose. He excelled in landscapes, flowers and birds, and figures, blending the realistic style of the Northern Song with the expressive brushwork of the Yuan dynasty. Dong Qichang praised him for combining “scholarly spirit with artistic talent.” He was also excellent at calligraphy, with a style that was dignified and meticulous. Most of his poems were written on paintings, expressing sympathy for the struggles of common people and longing for his lost homeland. In his early years, he was recommended to the Imperial Academy as a young scholar, but he disliked official life and never pursued a government career. His notable painting, *Autumn Scene along the Qiantang River Scroll*, realistically depicts scenes from the Qiantang River to the Xin'an River. *Summer Flood on the Jiazi Year* and *Autumn Drought on the Yichou Year* document floods and droughts in Jiangnan. After the fall of the Ming dynasty, he refused to serve the Qing government. He created a self-portrait stamped with the seal “Non-official of Jiangnan” and often used imagery like pine, cypress, and red tones to express his nostalgia for the fallen dynasty. For example, in *The Great Tree in the Wind*, he wrote the poem “Standing tall in the sky, the great tree howls in the wind” to show his intentions. In his later years, he lived in seclusion on Xushan Mountain, selling paintings for a living. He never marked his works with Qing era dates. Over six hundred of his pieces survive, including *Reading the Book of Changes in the Pine Studio* and *Fishing Boats in the Misty River*, with his pine paintings being especially famous and earning him the nickname “Xiang Song.” He also wrote *Collected Works of Langyun Hall* and *Collected Works of Qinghe Thatched Cottage*, and some of his paintings are now housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing and other places.