As a Hong Kong Chinese, historian and academic curator, Professor Lian specializes in ancient Chinese history with a focus on the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. His research spans the history and theory of art, craft, and design, emphasizing intellectual history, institutional history, the history of philosophy, and the material culture of ritual texts and ceremonial systems in ancient China.

Combining methodologies from cliometrics, anthropology, archaeology, biology, economics, and the science of sciences, Literary history, Lian engages in:

· collation of rare art-related historical texts,

· studying modern and contemporary Chinese art history,

· conducting contemporary art criticism, and 

· developing design theory.

His interdisciplinary academic work bridges ceramic culture, classical ritual studies, institutional history, and bibliography, Canal Studies, while employing case-based research. He has made significant contributions to:

· discovering and critically analyzing classical historical sources and overlooked historical figures,

· advancing public engagement with historical materials,

· digitally integrating historical sources and social governance models.

Holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in Art History and Theory, from Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Currently also the Minjiang Scholar Chair Professor of Fujian Province (Fujian Normal University), President of The Chinese Folk Beliefs and Customs Institute (Macao), Editor-in-Chief & Principal Writer of The Complete Compendium of Chinese Arts and Crafts-Hong Kong Volume (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the P. R. China & China Arts and Crafts Association), Editorial Board Member of The Journal of International Ceramic Studies. As the Member of The China Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and The International Committee for Museology(ICOFOM), Senior Member of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society; Member of The Chinese Society of the Forbidden City, The Chinese Museums Association, The China Folk Literature and Art Association, and Specially Appointed Research Fellow of The Center for Research on Ancient Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of Zhejiang University (Zhejiang Provincial Key Research Base for Philosophy and Social Sciences). Previously served as Professor, Supervisor of Master, Doctoral students, Postdoctoral Co-Supervisor, also the Deputy Director of Art Museums, and, Director of Crafts Museum of China Academy of Art. Formerly Zhijiang Young Social Science Scholar of Zhejiang Province, The New Century 151 Talent Project of Zhejiang Province (Tier-3), Peer Review Expert of The National Social Science Fund of China and The National Arts Science Planning Projects (NSSFC), Expert of The China National Graduate Education Evaluation and Monitoring. Also Committee Member and Member of The Theoretical Committee, The Folk Art and Crafts Committee of the China National Arts and Crafts Society; Council Member of the 9th Executive Council of The Zhejiang Folk Literature and Art Association.