Xiao Yuncong was named Xiao Long as a child and was born into a gentry family in Wuhu in central Anwei. The night before his birth, his father was said to have dreamed that his son would be the reincarnation of the tenth century artist Guo Zhongshan.

Xiao Yuncong succeeded in all but the highest level of civil service exams, while also becoming an accomplished poet, musician and landscape and figure painter. After his home was destroyed in 1647 during the fall of the Ming dynasty, Xiao devoted himself to painting and became one of the most versatile and prolific of the early Anwei masters.

Xiao Yuncong used the dry brushwork and natural elements reduced to geometric shapes to create sparse lan...