Xu Yuanqing (1941-2019) was born in Lili Town, Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province. From 1960 to 1965, he majored in flower-and-bird painting in the Department of Chinese Painting of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. From 1965 to 1987, he was a full-time painter at the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy. The Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued a "Certificate of Reward" for his outstanding painting skills and his contribution to the popularization of Chinese painting.

Xu resided in the United States and was a professional painter.