He was born in Wuxi County, Chongqing, and was promoted from the rank of a foot soldier during the later years of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912).
He was involved in early military operations against the Taiping Rebellion in Henan from 1850 onwards.
Continuing after Guangxi, Xiang Rong never gave up and tracked the Taiping rebels across three province to Jiangnan in southern China.
The Taiping rebel army broke through his various encirclements and occupied Wuhan and Nanjing, giving rise to a huge civil war.
In 1856, Xiang Rong's army fought against Qin Rigang for one month and was defeated by Qin Rigang's militia, Xiang Rong was wounded and died after several days in Danyang City.