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 scie ...

. An expert in the conservation of ancient murals, cave temples, and architecture, he served as vice president of the Dunhuang Research Academy and as an adjunct professor at

Lanzhou University Lanzhou University () is a public university in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Founded in 1909, the ...

Biography

Li was born in

Lanzhou Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern 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. His ...

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

, China in 1941. He graduated from the department of chemistry of

Northwest Normal University Northwest Normal University () is a public university in Lanzhou, Gansu Province of the People's Republic of China. The university is authorized by the State Council of the Central Government of the People's Republic of China to grant associate ...

in 1964. In 1991, he earned his Ph.D. in conservation science from

Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...

, 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. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

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

Jiaohe ruins Jiaohe or Yarkhoto or Yarghul (Yarghul is in fact the name used by local Uyghur residence) is a ruined city in the Yarnaz Valley, 10 km west of the city of Turpan in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It was the capital of the Toc ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

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

Potala Palace Potala Palace ( Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་ཕོ་བྲང Chinese: 布达拉宫) is the name of a museum in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, built in the ''dzong''-style. It was previously a palace of t ...

, the

Sakya Monastery Sakya Monastery (), also known as Pel Sakya (; "White Earth" or "Pale Earth"), is a Buddhist monastery situated in Sa'gya Town (ས་སྐྱ་), Sa'gya County, about west of Shigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The monastery ...

, and

Norbulingka Norbulingka (; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Nor bu gling ga''; zh, s=罗布林卡, t=羅布林卡; literally "Jeweled Park") is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet built from 1755.Tibet (1986), p.71 It ser ...

. Li served as vice president of the Dunhuang Research Academy and taught as an adjunct professor at

, 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 Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

, his health deteriorated. He suffered from heart problems, for which he had a

coronary stent A coronary stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, to keep the arteries open in patients suffering from coronary heart disease. The vast majority of stents used in modern interventional ca ...

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 Academic staff of Lanzhou University Chinese expatriates in Japan