Autumn Landscape

These paintings belonged to General Dai Gaoxiang (1907-1995), a native of Renshou, Sichuan. He was a prominent contributor to China's war against the Japanese invaders during World War II. He graduated from China's prestigious Military University with the highest honor and then was sought after as an instructor for the "Tactics and Strategies of War" in that school. He was then sponsored to study tactics that might help China fight against a much superior Japanese army. Notably, General Dai invented the famous "foxhole" strategy, along with a few others, and summarized their use in a pamphlet circulated among the Chinese armies. He then worked as Chief of Staff in the Third War Zone and successfully applied these tactics to help the much inferior Sichuan army win their first major victory in the battlefield in the war against the Japanese army in southern Anhui. He was promoted to Major General at the young age of 29 because of his contribution in the war against the Japanese. Dai was then put in charge of all drafting and recruiting in Sichuan province. Through his efforts, 1.85 million soldiers and 250,000 airfield construction workers were recruited to support the war. In 1949, he left to Taiwan with General Chiang Kaishek and held a job in charge of all drafting and manpower works there. In particular, he formulated the first drafting law in Chinese history. Zhang Daqian, who also hailed from Sichuan, presented and dedicated this landscape painting to his friend, General Dai Gaoxiang in 1972 as a gift when the two met in Taipei. This painting remained in General Dai's family by descent.