Lou Wei, male, Han ethnicity, was born in October 1970. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history. Beginning his career in August 1993, Lou is a Senior Research Fellow in Museology (the highest professional title).

Lou once served as deputy director and then director of the Collection Management Department of the Palace Museum, assistant to the director of the Palace Museum, and deputy director of the Palace Museum. He is now executive deputy director of the Palace Museum and member of the Hong Kong Palace Museum Board. His current role involves oversight of the Finance Office, Budget Office, Facilities, Planning and Construction Office, Department of Architectural Heritage, Department of Heritage Architectural Technologies, the Institute of World Heritage Monitoring, Department of Construction Management, Administrative Services Department, and he also participated in the oversight of Foreign Affairs Department (Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs).

Since he began his career, Lou has been involved in authentication and study of ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting works as well as comprehensive management of the museum. In terms of management experience, he has participated in the drafting and revision of a series of work plans and regulations including “The Palace Museum Comprehensive Development Plan 2003-2020,” “The Palace Museum Collection Management Work Plan 2004-2010,” and “The Palace Museum Collection Management Regulation.” He led or participated in the collection management projects from 2004 to 2010 and organized collection of major cultural relics such as a bronze Kezhong from the late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 B.C.), An Ode to Dispatching Troops, a writing dating back to the Sui Dynasty (581-618), and Combined Calligraphy Scroll of Ming Emperors Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Houcong from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Besides, he has actively promoted cooperation between Chinese and foreign museums and cultural institutions and organized a variety of cultural relics exhibitions and academic exchanges with the U.S., Russia, Greece, Afghanistan as well as China’s regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In his research work, Lou has focused on styles and works of painters from the Wu School in the Ming Dynasty and those in and around Taihu Lake area. His studies focus on offering solutions to the problems that existed in calligraphy and painting works passed down from previous dynasties. In addition to one book, he has also published a number of papers on cultural relics authentication and research in such journals as Cultural Relics, The Palace Museum Journal, and Journal of the National Museum of Chinese History. Moreover, he participated in the compilation of several volumes regarding paintings of The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum and organized large-scale exhibitions such as “Court Painting under the Qianlong Emperor.” He independently completed or organized a series of research projects including “The Life and Art of Yao Shou” and “Notes and Study on Authentication of Liu Jiu’an’s Calligraphy and Painting Works.”