1934
Du Yongqiao is born in Dashi Township, Yuechi County.
1951
Du tests into the Chengdu Art Academy Painting Department.
1953
After reforms in the national university system, the Chengdu Art Academy Painting Department and Applied Arts Department are moved to Chongqing and combined with the Southwest People`s Art Academy to form the Southwest Arts Academy (the precursor to the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute). Du Yongqiao continues his studies at the new painting department.
1956
Upon graduation, Du takes up a position on the painting faculty.
His work Performance by Advanced Producers is featured in the First Sichuan Provincial Youth Fine Arts Exhibition (Chengdu), where it wins Second Prize.
1957
The print work By the Brook is featured in the Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students (Moscow), and is collected by a museum in the Soviet Union, and by the National Art Museum of China. The work is published in numerous magazines.
The print work Night and a watercolor painting (title unknown) are featured in the First National Youth Fine Arts Exhibition (Beijing Working People`s Cultural Palace). Night wins Third Prize.
Du is assigned a teaching position at the Sichuan Art Institute Middle School.
Du joins the Sichuan Artists Association.
Seeing a demonstration of life studies by Konstantin Maksimov at the academy, Du is profoundly inspired.
1958
As part of a campaign sending cadres to the countryside, Du travels to a village in the Nantong mining district of Chongqing, where he falls gravely ill.
Du is temporarily assigned to the Chongqing Municipal Organization Department to take part in the editing of the periodical Poems and Paintings of Labor. Over the next half year, he produces dozens of paintings for the anthology.
The comic book Double Tree (a collaboration with Shi Zhaozu, Liaoning Publishing House) is published.
The print works Shizitan Power Station Construction Site, Along the River and By the Brook are featured in the Third National Print Art Exhibition (Shuaifuyuan Art Museum, Beijing).
1959
The print work By the Brook is collected in Selected Print Art from the Past Decade (Shanghai People`s Fine Art Publishing House).
1960
The print works Shizitan Power Station Construction Site and By the Brook are collected in Selected Print Art of Sichuan Province (Sichuan People`s Publishing House).
The print work Morning at the Steelworks is featured in the Third National Fine Arts Exhibition (Beijing and Shanghai).
1961
The print work Early Spring in Chongqing is featured in the Sichuan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition (Chongqing) and collected by the Sichuan Artists Association.
The watercolor painting Eternal Friendship between China and Poland is featured in the China-Poland Friendship Arts Competition (Polish Embassy, Beijing) where it wins Second Prize.
1962
Du spends half a year on the grasslands of Zoige, Tibet, where he creates such oil paintings as Grassland and Fertile Soil, as well as nearly one hundred watercolors. These works are published in numerous magazines.
The comic book Husband and Wife Bridge is published (in collaboration with Yang Fang and Zhou Lin, Sichuan People`s Publishing House).
The print works Grassland and Early Spring in Chongqing are featured in the Fourth National Fine Arts Exhibition (National Art Museum of China, Beijing).
Du marries Wang Jixiang.
1963
Du creates the watercolor painting Herding, and the oil paintings Herdsman and Snow White Wool.
The watercolor painting Herding is published by the Shanghai People`s Fine Arts Publishing House.
The print work Grassland is featured in the Fifth National Print Art Exhibition (Chongqing).
1964
The print work Grassland is featured in the English catalogue Selected Chinese Modern Print Art.
The watercolor paintings Still Life, Dawn over the Grassland and Jialing Wharf are collected in Select Watercolor Paintings (Shanghai People`s Fine Art Publishing House).
The watercolor painting First Rays of Dawn is collected in New Watercolor Compilation 2 (Shanghai People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
Du creates the propaganda posters Learn from Lei Feng and Become the Screw that Never Rusts and Drive the Old and New Colonialists out of Africa (both in collaboration with Wang Datong). The posters are published by People`s Fine Arts Publishing House.
Ten watercolor paintings, including City Streets and Tilling, are featured in Joint Exhibition of Watercolors from Sichuan and Hubei.
Du`s daughter Du Shuang is born.
1965
The print work Grassland is featured in Joint Exhibition of Print Art from Six Asian Nations, and collected by the Sichuan Artists Association.
Du is assigned to teach at Chongqing No. 29 Middle School for one year.
1966
The Cultural Revolution begins, and classes are canceled. Hundreds of Du Yongqiao`s artworks from over the years are lost, stolen in successive house raids and sent off to be featured in “black painting exhibitions.”
Du separates from his wife.
1967
Du marries Zhou Deyu.
1968
Du`s son Du Fangxiao is born.
Du is hospitalized with a grave illness.
1969
Du is sent to the 0022 Brigade Farms in Tongxi Township, Hechuan County, for a year of labor alongside fellow faculty members.
1970
Du returns to Chongqing, and is hospitalized with a grave illness.
The faculty of the Sichuan Art Institute Middle School returns to work. Du is assigned to the Painting and Sculpture Department.
1975
Du leads a group of “worker, peasant and soldier students” to Ziyang Factory 431 for nearly half a year of “open learning.”
Du falls gravely ill.
1977
The oil painting For Thousands of Years to Come (a collaboration with Wang Datong and Zhang Shengxuan), is featured in the Sichuan Shuangqing Fine Arts Exhibition (National Art Museum of China, Beijing).
The oil painting To Yan`an is featured in the People`s Liberation Army 50th Anniversary Sichuan Fine Arts Exhibition (Sichuan Provincial Exhibition Hall, Chengdu).
1979
The oil painting Redstone Path is featured in the People`s Republic 30th Anniversary Sichuan Fine Arts Exhibition (Sichuan Provincial Exhibition Hall, Chengdu), and published in numerous magazines.
Du creates the gouache painting Tomb Sweeping Day, which is subsequently published (Sichuan People`s Publishing House).
Du is named lecturer.
Du converts to Buddhism at Baoguang Temple in Xindu County.
1980
Du creates twelve oil paintings for the Shuinianhe Shopping Plaza.
Du creates roughly twenty oil paintings and watercolors, some of which are published in Gallery Magazine (Tianjin People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
Du is temporarily assigned to teach at the art academy middle school.
1981
The print works Shizitan Power Station Construction Site and Early Spring in Chongqing, created in the 1950s and 60s, are collected in Selected Print Art of Sichuan (Sichuan People`s Publishing House).
The watercolors Still Life, Autumn Forest and Nude are published in Gallery Magazine (Tianjin People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
Du joins the China Artists Association.
1982
The watercolor and gouache works Pond in the Rain, Sound of Books in the Forest Shade and Forest are published in Gallery Magazine (Tianjin People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
The oil painting Chongqing in the Rain is featured in the exhibition Works from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (National Art Museum of China, Beijing).
The oil paintings Redstone Path and Golden Autumn are featured in Oil Paintings from Sichuan Province (Shenzhen).
Du creates the fourteen oil paintings of the Chongqing Series of Paintings, which are the subject of a television special produced by Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio.
Du travels to Jiuzhaigou for landscape studies.
1983
Four oil paintings, including Scenes of Shu and Return, are featured in the Sichuan Oil Painting Exhibition (Sichuan Provincial Exhibition Hall, Chengdu).
The oil painting Chongqing in the Rain is featured in Oil Painting Selection Volume 3 (People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
1984
Du creates the oil paintings Dawn and Through the Ages, and is featured in the exhibition Oil Paintings and Prints from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (National Art Museum of China, Beijing). Through the Ages is collected by the National Art Museum of China.
Oil paintings including Flowers and First Rays of Dawn are featured in featured in the exhibition Oil Paintings from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (Hong Kong Arts Centre).
Du is assigned to the Teacher Training Department.
1985
Two figure study drawings are collected in Collection of Drawings from Chinese Art Academies (Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House).
The gouache works Silent Lake and Fish and Fruit are collected in Gouache (Shanghai People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
1986
The oil painting Female Nude is collected in the book Studies from Chinese Art Academies (Lijiang Publishing House).
Six watercolor paintings, including Female Nude, Dusk and Danish Girl are featured in Tianfu Watercolor Exhibition (Sichuan Provincial Exhibition Hall, Chengdu).
1987
The oil painting Nude is collected in Nudes in Oil (Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House).
The watercolor painting Herding is published in Gallery Magazine (Tianjin People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
Du is named an associate professor.
Du divorces Zhou Deyu.
1988
Du travels with Zhao Qing to seek inspiration in Hainan.
Du Yongqiao marries Zhao Qing.
1989
The oil painting Female Nude is collected in Selections from Young Chinese Painters–Oil Painting (Lijiang Publishing House).
The oil painting God of the Celestial River is featured in Sichuan Exhibition to Commemorate Forty Years of the People`s Republic of China (Sichuan Provincial Exhibition Hall, Chengdu).
Du and his wife Zhao Qing move to a mountaintop in Nanshan, Chongqing, to begin a life of seclusion.
1990
A series of Du`s oil paintings are featured in the Hong Kong magazine World of Collecting.
The oil painting Herding at Dawn is featured in the First China Oil Painting Competition (Museum of the Zhejiang Academy of Art).
1991
Du and Zhao Qing take lay Buddhist vows under Master Qingding of Zhaojue Temple.
1992
After signing a deal with an international art dealer, all of Du`s paintings from over the years are “loaned” out.
A series of watercolor paintings are published in the Taiwanese magazine Yanhuang Arts.
A solo exhibition of Du`s work is held in Taiwan (Yanhuang Art Museum, Kaohsiung).
Du`s lifetime achievements are recorded in the book History of New Print Art in Sichuan (Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House).
Du travels to Jiangsu and Zhejiang for three months of painting and wandering, completing over twenty paintings.
Du`s daughter Du Yimo is born.
Du and his wife visit Xiangshan Temple and Yunwu Temple in Hanwang, Mianzhu County, to study the Dharma.
1993
Du`s lifetime achievements are recorded in the book China Fine Arts Yearbook 1949–1989 (compiled by the National Art Museum of China, published by Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House)
Du returns to the school, ending three years of seclusion. During his time on the mountain, Du created over one hundred oil paintings.
1994
A series of oil paintings are published in the periodical Sino-Foreign Exchange (organized by the China International Cultural Exchange Center and others).
Du visits his childhood home in Yuechi.
1995
Oil paintings including Water Village and Winter Day are published in the magazine Contemporary Artists (Sichuan Fine Arts Institute).
The watercolor painting Serenity is featured in the 95 Hangzhou Watercolor Exhibition (Zhejiang Museum of Art).
The book Paintings by Du Yongqiao is published (Taiwan Mountain Art Foundation)
Du is named a full professor.
Du retires.
1996
The watercolor painting Still Life is featured in the First China Watercolor Painting Exhibition (Shijiazhuang Municipal Museum), winning a Silver Medal.
The oil painting Autumn Moon is featured in the Cross Straits Exhibition of Famous Oil Painters (Taipei Fine Arts Museum).
The watercolor paintings Grassland and Still Life are featured in the Sichuan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition (Sichuan Art Museum, Chengdu). Still Life wins a Silver Medal.
Joint Exhibition of Du Yongqiao, Luo Zhongli and Their Students is held in Taiwan (Yanhuang Art Museum, Kaohsiung).
1997
The watercolor painting Still Life is collected in Categorized Anthology of Chinese Modern Art–Watercolor (People`s Fine Arts Publishing House) and Watercolor Art (People`s Fine Art Publishing House).
The oil painting Table on the Balcony is featured in the Second China Still Life Oil Painting Exhibition (National Art Museum of China, Beijing).
The watercolor painting Boat is featured in the Seventh China Watercolor Exhibition (Museum of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing).
Du Yongqiao Art Retrospective is held in Chongqing and Chengdu (Museum of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Sichuan Art Museum). The journal Sichuan Fine Arts (Sichuan Artists Association) publishes Transcript of the Du Yongqiao Art Retrospective Symposium and other texts.
The television program If the Heavens Cared—Du Yongqiao and His Painting airs on China Education Television and Chongqing TV stations 1 and 2.
1998
A series of oil paintings are published in the magazine Chinese Oil Painting (Tianjin People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
The watercolor painting Still Life is collected in Chinese Watercolor Paintings (Chinese and English, Hebei Education Publishing House), alongside Du`s artist bio.
The journal Artist Communications (China Artists Association), publishes Wu Fan`s essay A Letter to Sir Du Yongqiao.
Du moves to Chengdu.
1999
A series of oil paintings and watercolors are published in the magazine Fine Arts (China Artists Association).
The book Oil Paintings by Du Yongqiao is published by Southwestern Normal University Publishing House.
The book Outstanding Works by Famous Artists: Du Yongqiao`s Still Lifes-Flowers, is published by Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House.
The oil painting Wildflowers is featured in the Ninth National Fine Arts Exhibition (Shanghai).
A solo exhibition of Du`s work travels to Taiwan (Dunhuang Art Gallery, Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hsinchu).
2000
A series of oil paintings, watercolors and Interview with Du Yongqiao, by Zhang Yingchuan, are published in the magazines Rongbaozhai (Rongbaozhai Press) and Art Observations (Chinese National Academy of the Arts).
The watercolor painting Still Life is included in the book History of Chinese Watercolor Painting (Shanghai Pictorial Publishing House).
The watercolor painting Female Nude is collected in the book Graphic History of Chinese Watercolor Painting (Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House).
2002
Du joins a group of artists for an observational trip to Russia.
Du travels with his wife Zhao Qing to his hometown of Yuechi, and their former home in Nanshan.
Du converts to Christianity.
2003
Du is baptized.
2004
The book Ten Leading Chinese Artists: Du Yongqiao Painting Album is published (People`s Daily Publishing House).
2005
The Old Town Series and other oil paintings are published in Chongqing and the World.
The television program Living with Silence—the Oil Painting Art of Du Yongqiao is broadcast on Sichuan Television.
2006
The watercolor painting Herding is featured in the exhibition One Hundred Years of Chinese Watercolor Painting (National Art Museum of China, Beijing) and collected in the catalogue One Hundred Years of Chinese Watercolor Painting 1905–2006 (People`s Fine Arts Publishing House).
Most of the paintings loaned to an overseas businessman fourteen years prior are finally recovered.
2007
Du falls gravely ill.
Du Yongqiao Oil and Watercolor Retrospective Exhibition is held (Sichuan Art Museum, Chengdu), and is covered in print and online media across the country.
Du creates his final oil painting, Mourning.
The Du Yongqiao Oil Painting Research Center is established at Sichuan Normal University.
One month after the retrospective exhibition, Du Yongqiao passes away.
Posthumous
2008
Du`s final exhibition and farewell letter are collected in Chinese Fine Arts Chronicle–2007 Volume I (Chinese Literature and History Press).
2009
The watercolor painting Still Life is collected in History of Chinese Watercolor Painting (Revised Edition) (Shanghai Brocade Publishing House).
The print work By the Brook is collected in Great Artistic Achievements: Collection of New China Print Art 1949–2009 (Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House).
2014
The oil painting Old Town Series: Quiet Court is featured in Echoes—Sixty Years of Chongqing Artworks (Chongqing Art Museum).
2015
The watercolor paintings Blue Sky and Fertile Soil, Forest, and Light Drizzle are featured in The Age of Progress—An Academic Exhibition of Chinese Watercolor History (National Art Museum of China and Qingdao Art Museum). Light Drizzle is collected by the National Art Museum of China.
The oil painting Intoxication is featured in First Nomination Exhibition of Excellent Chengdu Modern and Contemporary Art (Winshare Art Gallery, Chengdu).
2016
The oil painting Girl Practicing the Piano is featured in Be with History—Collections of the Works by the Predecessor Artists of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (Usunhome Art Museum, Chengdu).
Oil paintings including Old Town Series: Patter of Rain and Blue Cockscomb are featured in Echoing—Invitation Exhibition of the Instructors of Sichuan Fine Arts Institutes Artists in the 1980s (Museum of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing).
2017
The oil painting Through the Ages is featured in Texture of Time—Artwork Exhibition of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (National Art Museum of China, Beijing).
The journal Sichuan Fine Arts (Sichuan Artists Association) publishes a profile on Du`s life, alongside various oil paintings, prints and Chinese paintings, as well as Du`s essay Talking about My Oil Painting, Chen Danqing`s essay Thoughts on Du Yongqiao, Shui Tianzhong`s essay A Person who Paints with His Soul, and Lin Mu`s essay An Eastern Visual Realm Reshaped by the Soul.
The journal Art Observation (Chinese National Academy of Arts) publishes various oil paintings, prints and Chinese paintings, as well as Hu Bo`s interview of Pang Maokun, Du Yongqiao: China`s Oil Color Master as Educator.