Fujiyama in Red Background

Li Qingping was born in Jinzhou, Hubei province with the name Zhao Yuzhen, courtesy name Junchu. Later she changed her name to Li Yuan in honor of her grandfather. She graduated from the postgraduate courses of Western Painting in Shanghai Xinhua Private Art School in 1937, then went to Kuala Lumpur and served as the Arts Department head in the Kuen Cheng Girls' School in Kuala Lumpur in the same year. Where she met an Indian painter Shadunasa from whom she learned “Splash Painting” technique. Later she had serial of exhibitions of paintings in Malacca, Penang together with Liu Haisu, Situ Qiao and Yang Mansheng etc, and charity fundraising for the Second Sino-Japanese War then. In 1941, Xu Beihong changed her to "Li Qingping" during the publication of her first album of paintings-Qingping Painting Album. Xu also inscribed and prefaced the album. Since her returning to China in 1942 she held art shows in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuxi and Japan and then served at The Ministry of Culture Arts Department and People's Fine Arts Publishing House and etc. She became a member of Chinese Artists Association (CAA) since 1987.