Expert of calligraphy and painting appraisal at Beijing National Museum Cultural Relics Appraisal Center, member of the Appraisal Committee of the China Federation of Industry and Commerce Antique Chamber of Commerce, professor of cultural relics at the School of Resources, Peking University, vice chairman of the Art Committee of the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Masters Network, member of the Xiling Seal Society, China Member of the Appraisal and Evaluation Committee of the Calligraphers Association, Vice Chairman of the Hainan Provincial Calligraphers Association, Director of the China Cultural Relics Restoration Committee, Deputy Director of the Hainan Art Relics Appraisal Committee, member of the Hainan Provincial Cultural Relics Appraisal Expert Group, and consultant of the Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Appraisal Group.
In 1954, he paid homage to his hometown teacher Ning Shaowu to receive education in the old school and inherited his unique calligraphy skills. In 1956, he studied calligraphy, painting, seal cutting, and calligraphy and painting appraisal under Guo Boying and Gao Shoutian. In 1973, he was transferred to the Shanxi Provincial Art Studio to engage in professional work, and he studied ancient textual research under the guidance of the ancient philologist Zhang Jie. In 1983, he founded the "Shanxi Epigraphy and Calligraphy Research Institute" and served as the director. In 1991, he was transferred to the position of deputy director and honorary director of Hainan Provincial Museum. Its achievements are divided into artistic creation, appraisal of calligraphy and painting cultural relics, imitation of ancient calligraphy and painting, and restoration research. Li Yuanmao has been engaged in the art of calligraphy, painting and seal cutting for a long time. He has been practicing seal writing for fifty years. He can use the theory of "psychological unity" to explain the seal writing method and embody the state of mind of "the harmony of heart and reason, and the unity of reason and heart". This is called "writing seal script". For this reason, one to tens of thousands of characters are expressed vividly and unified, pushing the seal script to a new realm. He created "Hundred Years of Life Seal" and presented it as a national gift to North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1982. It was published in Tokyo Hall, Japan in 1985. In the past forty years since 1968, artistic works have been exhibited in provincial exhibitions, inter-provincial joint exhibitions, national exhibitions, international exhibitions, the fifth and sixth national calligraphy exhibitions, the third national seal cutting exhibition, and the highest national exhibition in the country. It has been exhibited more than a hundred times (the first Lanting Award), and won the China International Literary and Art Expo Special Grade Award, the Silver Award of the Third International Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, the World Silver Award, and the Hainan Province Outstanding Spiritual Product Award. In 1987, his name was recorded in the history of seal studies, "China Seal Yearbook". In 1993, he was awarded the title of "World Art Celebrity" and his works have been included in many large-scale albums. Published many papers. There are many monographs including "Xu Xuzhai Seals", "Famous Stone Seals", "Hundred Chinese Seal Engraving Masters - Li Yuanmao Volume", "Research on Imitation of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting", "Lecture Notes on the Appraisal of Calligraphy and Painting", etc. Over the past 50 years, Li Yuanmao has inspected nearly one million pieces of calligraphy and painting, tablets, Tianhuang stones, ancient seals and other miscellaneous objects. We provide identification and grading of cultural relics collected by museums at all levels; forensic identification of cultural relics from customs, public prosecutors and law enforcement agencies; identification of scattered cultural relics from public and private institutions, and appraisal of calligraphy and painting targets in the auction market. After many years of appraisal of calligraphy and painting, I have discovered a new academic significance of "seal" (i.e. written seal) in appraisal: that is, "seal" can be used as a part of the brushwork of calligraphy and painting itself, becoming the main basis for appraising calligraphy and painting, and is no longer A auxiliary identification basis equivalent to "seal". Li Yuanmao has in-depth research on the imitation and restoration of calligraphy and painting, and has formulated a restoration plan for ancient calligraphy and painting, which plays a decisive role in rescuing ancient calligraphy and painting that are on the verge of extinction. At the "93 National Academic Symposium on Cultural Relics Restoration" held in Beijing in December 1993, he was awarded the "Thirty-Year Cultural Relics Restoration Worker" certificate (the highest honor in the cultural relics industry) jointly issued by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Chinese Cultural Relics Society, and the Chinese Cultural Relics Restoration Committee. certificate). There are only three calligraphy and painting restoration experts in the country who have obtained this certificate (the other two are Zhang Jinying from the Forbidden City and Sun Jian from Shangbo).