Career

He was also expert in calligraphy, line drawing and Chinese brush painting. Born in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, Jiang served various posts in the imperial government of Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian and Zhejiang. Due to the Taiping Rebellion, Jiang spent quite a lot of time wandering from one place to another.

This part of life experience was reflected in his roaming poems, which illustrated people"s livelihood and local conditions in South China of the early 20th century, as well as social problems including the opium trade of that time.

Jiang kept true to the real feelings in his poems, avoiding mediocre and pursuing originality. His theoretical views on poetry did not conform to the orthodox of his time, and were embodied in the various styles of his poems, which in turn shaped this distinguished master of poetry.

The contemporary literary critic Qian Zhongshu saw Jiang as one of the best late-Qing poets, along with Huang Zunxian.