Ten Verses by the Frosted Window Frontispiece 1

Gao Xiang, a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, ranks among “the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou” for his conversance in poetry, calligraphy and painting. The calligraphy he wrote with his left hand when his right one became disabled in his late years was cherished by Ruan Yuan and many others to be exceptionally quaint. His landscapes are as unrestrained as Monk Shitao’s and as simple as Ni Zan’s and Monk Hongren’s. Whether it is a calligraphic work or a painting of architecture, figures or divine beings, his sublime brush and ink and his hallmark sinuous lines never fail to leave a lasting impression. Stricken by poverty all his life, he only grew to be all the more uncompromising and consoled himself with poetry. Instead of making friends, he devoted himself to studying, which has tainted his works with a literati flavor.

Ten plants are featured in this album: plum blossom, lotus, vine, orchid, willow, plantain, osmanthus, chrysanthemum and China fir. In a departure from the bird-and-flower tradition which celebrates exuberance and vitality, the paintings concern themselves with confronting decay with self-contented arrogance once prime is past. Deprived of the least of comfort all his life, Gao Xiang psychologically kept his distance from what was generally considered appealing by his contemporaries. He refused to conform even though he might be neglected or ignored like the orchid blossoming in a forgotten valley or the osmanthus flaunting its last in the winter.

The title “Ten Verses by the Frosted Window” inscribed in the frontispiece is unambiguous that the paintings and the facing poetic inscriptions are to be taken as an integral whole. In these poems, Gao Xiang eulogized the plants braving the winter, not only manifesting his poetic flair but also endowing the paintings with deep meaning. Wry and pointed, the robust calligraphy in running script is as unrestrained as the painting to elicit a sense of consuming vibrancy.

As for the frontispiece and the title for each leaf, they were written in seal script, of which Gao was an adept. Again, the eccentric opted to be off the beaten track. Arguably a precursor of the Stele School that thrived in the late Qing, he employed tremulous strokes to mimic the badly weathered stone carvings just when other calligraphers were striving for roundedness. Despite its small size, the present embodiment of poetry, calligraphy and painting in one is important for illustrating the traditional literati values and aesthetics.