Art historian, art critic and artist. PhD from University of Heidelberg. Corresponding Academician of the German Institute of Archaeology. Professor of History Department of Peking University. Chief Expert of Image Lab at Peking University. Director of the World Arthistory Institute (WAI) at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). President of the International Committee for Art History (CIHA) from 2016 to 2021.

His areas of research concern the concept of art history, which is different from Western art history, as well as image studies that are unrelated to thing as a core methodology of art history.