Born into a prominent Chinese family in northeastern China, Kao Ch'i-p'ei served as senior provincial official in Anhui province, as vice-president of the Board of Punishment in Beijing, and as a lieutenant-general of one of the Ch'ing military banner regiments. Kao was already an able painter by the age of eight and his conservative early landscapes were much admired at court.

By the early eighteenth century, however, individualism was in the air and Kao was anxious to establish his own style and identity as an artist. He developed a style of finger painting, not only applying ink with the tip of one finger, but also with the side of his hand to create broad streaks and washes. He grew one fingernail long and split it like a pen nib. His best works are spontaneous, with rough, jagged lineation, uneven ink washes, and fingerprints worked into his expressive compositions. By the end of his career, he was a highly regarded eccentric painter and he excelled in small scale compositions such as these.