Mào Xiāng 冒襄

Chinese, 1611–1693

BiographyMao Xiang 冒襄 (Mao Hsiang). Born into a Jiangsu gentry family whose garden attracted frequent visits from many local scholars and artists, Mao Xiang was surrounded by art and literature from a very early age, an environment that nurtured his precocious talents. At the age of thirteen, Mao published his first collection of poems, and not long afterward he became the student of Dong Qichang (1555-1636), who at that point was in his seventies and perhaps the most important artist and art theorist in China. So impressed was Dong with the young Mao that he compared him to the great Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei (699-751 A.D.), and instead of a formal teacher-pupil relationship, Dong claimed Mao as "a friend in spite of age difference" (wangnianjia).

As an adult, Mao was an important member of the "Restoration Society" (fushe), a reformist group of scholars who sought to end the endemic corruption and institutional paralysis that so weakened the late Ming government. After the collapse of the Ming in 1644, Mao adopted the mantle of loyal "leftover subject" (yimin) and refused to serve the new Manchu regime. His reputation as a noble political reformer and loyalist was equaled only by his renown as a romantic and lover of beautiful women. He had a celebrated affair with the famous courtesan and painter Dong Xiaowan (1625-1651), and two of his other concubines--Cai Han (1647-1686) and Qin Yue (ca. 1660-1690)--were also known for their combination of physical beauty and artistic talent. Shortly after his death, Mao was immortalized as one of the main characters in Kong Shangren's play, The Peach Blossom Fan.