Xiang was of short stature and plain appearance. He was born into a prosperous family of businesspeople, his family's wealth ranked among the top in the
Jiangnan region. He was knowledgeable in appreciation and an avid collector of ancient bronze artifacts inscribed with text, stone steles, calligraphy works, and paintings. His collection included works from a number of well-known calligraphers and painters from the
Three Kingdoms,
Jin,
Tang,
Song, and
Yuan dynasties. He constructed the Tianlai Pavilion (天籁阁, Tianlai Ge) as a private museum for calligraphy and paintings. He frequently hosted appreciation events attended by elites, connoisseurs, literati, and artists of his time. Among his guests there were esteemed painters such as
Wen Zhengming,
Qiu Ying, and
Dong Qichang. He had an obsession of stamping his collection seals on authentic works and marking their prices. For example, he stamped 98 seals on the calligraphy work
Lantingji Xu by
Chu Suiliang, and over 70 seals on the calligraphy work
''Huaisu's Autobiography'' by
Huaisu. Such a practice was criticized by Ming and Qing scholars as excessive, profit-driven, and disrespectful to the authentic art works. Although it was commended by contemporary researchers that these markings provided critical information for the collection and trading of art works at Xiang's time. Xiang himself was proficient in calligraphy and landscape painting, learning calligraphy from
Zhao Mengfu and painting from
Huang Gongwang and
Ni Zan. His painting "Bamboo and Chrysanthemum" was included in the
Catalogue of the Stone Canal Treasure (石渠宝笈)
, a Qing dynasty art collection of the imperial family. His collection was nearly looted during the early years of the Qing dynasty. Today, over 650 calligraphies and 790 paintings of Xiang's collection are trackable, they are housed at the
Palace Museum in Beijing, the
National Palace Museum in Taipei, as well as in various museums and private collections in Hong Kong and Japan. == Family ==