Xiang was born in a very rich family, and his father Xiang Quan was a businessman. When Xiang's father was young, he gradually made his career bigger because of collecting rent. After Xiang's father died, Xiang inherited most of his business because Xiang's two brothers were addicted to literature, and later became a local rich man through Xiang's efforts. He once spent two Qian Qian gold to buy Wang Xizhi's "Looking Near Post", knowing that two Qian Qian gold at that time was equivalent to the salary of a seven-product magistrate for forty years.
Later, Xiang also built a library pavilion specially for his collection, named Teana Pavilion. In addition to some famous paintings and calligraphy works, there are many antiques in the library he built, such as jade articles in the Han Dynasty, incense burners in Xuande period, and many porcelain and Buddha statues. Even the former emperor Qianlong was amazed at this library and wrote a poem named "Teana Pavilion" for this library.
Because there are too many works in the collection, and Xiang is worried that his collection will be copied, he created a number that only he can understand. All his collections correspond to one word in a thousand-character script. After such numbering, his works become unique.