巫鴻，1963年入中央美術學院美術史係學習。1972-1978年任職於故宮博物院書畫組、金石組。1978年重返中央美術學院美術史係攻讀碩士學位。1980-1987年就讀於哈佛大學，獲美術史與人類學雙重博士學位。隨即在哈佛大學美術史係任教，於1994年獲終身教授職位。受聘主持芝加哥大學亞洲藝術的教學、研究項目，執“斯德本特殊貢獻教授”講席。2002年建立東亞藝術研究中心並任主任。同年兼任該校斯馬特美術館顧問策展人。

This richly illustrated book examines the changing significance of ruins as vehicles for cultural memory in Chinese art and visual culture from ancient times to the present. Leading scholar of Chinese art Wu Hung shows how the story of ruins in China is different from but connected to "ruin culture" in the West. He investigates indigenous Chinese concepts of ruins and their visual manifestations, as well as the complex historical interactions between China and the West since the eighteenth century. Analyzing a broad variety of traditional and contemporary visual materials, including painting, architecture, photography, prints, and cinema, Wu also embraces a wide variety of subjects - from indigenous methods of recording damage and decay in ancient China, to realistic images of architectural ruins in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the strong interest in urban ruins in contemporary China, as shown in the many artworks that depict demolished houses and decaying industrial sites. The result is an original interpretation of the development of Chinese art, as well as a unique contribution to global art history.