Li Zuixiong (; 1941 – 2 July 2019) was a Chinese

conservation scientist A conservation scientist is a museum professional who works in the field of conservation science and whose focus is on the research of cultural heritage (e.g. art, artifacts, buildings, and monuments) through scientific inquiry. Conservation scien ...

. An expert in the conservation of ancient murals, cave temples, and architecture, he served as Vice President of the

Dunhuang Research Academy The Dunhuang Research Academy (), originally the National Research Institute on Dunhuang Art, is a "national comprehensive institution" responsible for overseeing the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located near Dunhuang in Gansu, China. ...

and as an adjunct professor at Lanzhou University.

Biography

Li was born in

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

, China in 1941. He graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Northwest Normal University in 1964. In 1991, he earned his Ph.D. in conservation science from Tokyo University of the Arts, and became the first Chinese person to earn a doctorate in the field. He worked for more than 50 years in the conservation of ancient murals, cave temples, and architecture, especially in

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...

. He participated in more than 50 major conservation projects, including three major Buddhist temples of Tibet and the Jiaohe ruins in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

. After turning 60, he made 18 trips to Tibet for the conservation work of the

Potala Palace The Potala Palace is a ''dzong'' fortress in Lhasa, Tibet. It was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959, has been a museum since then, and a World Heritage Site since 1994. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythica ...

, the Sakya Monastery, and Norbulingka. Li served as Vice President of the

and taught as an adjunct professor at Lanzhou University, where he advised 11 PhD's. He published more than 200 research papers and 11 monographs, and was awarded over 30 patents. He won three national science and technology prizes and more than ten ministerial or provincial prizes. Partly because of his frequently trips to the high-altitude

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Ti ...

, his health deteriorated. He suffered from heart problems, for which he had a coronary stent surgery. He died on 2 July 2019 in Lanzhou, at the age of 78. He had a son, Li Wei ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Zuixiong 1941 births 2019 deaths People from Lanzhou Scientists from Gansu Northwest Normal University alumni Tokyo University of the Arts alumni Lanzhou University faculty Chinese expatriates in Japan