1921 
Born in Beijing into the ancient T’chao family with a family tree dating back to the Sung dynasty.  (T’chao became Zao when he moved to France.)  Their ancestor was the Emperor’s brother, who was known as King Swallow and Nightingale.  One of the family treasures was a painting by Mi Fei (1051-1107) whom Zao regards as one of the greatest Chinese painters because he had “his own way of looking at things and [was] a great calligrapher.”
1931 
Zao showed a keen interest in literature and history at school and started to draw and paint.
1935 
Zao was enrolled in the Fine Arts School of Hangzhou, remaining there for six years.
1941 
After finishing his studies, Zao remained at the Arts School as a lecturer, and held his first exhibition in Chungking.  These pictures were strongly influenced by Matisse and Picasso, but it was Cezanne and Matisse who were, he says, closest to his temperament and from whom he developed his approach to painting.
1947 
Zao organised a one-man show in Shanghai.
1948 
Zao moved to Paris with his wife, Lan-Lan.  On the day of his arrival, he spent the afternoon in the Louvre.
1949 
Zao was awarded first prize in a drawing competition.
1951 
Zao visited Switzerland on the occasion of an exhibition of his engravings and there discovered the work of Paul Klee.  (Klee was inspired by Chinese art.)  This event was to have a very important and lasting effect on Zao.
1952 
From this time his works were regularly exhibited at the Galerie Pierre in Paris.  He also held exhibitions in Washington, Chicago, New York, Basel, Lausanne and London.
1953 
Over the next two years an incredible change took place in the paintings of Zao Wou-ki.  He later commented, “My painting became illegible.  Still life and flowers were no longer there.  I was tending towards an imaginary, indecipherable writing.”
1954 
The Museum of Fine Arts in Cincinnati presented a retrospective exhibition of engraved works.
1957 
This year and part of 1958 Zao spent travelling.  While in New York visiting his brother, Zao met the art dealer Samuel Kootz and signed a contract to exhibit with him.  He also met several artists who were to become his close friends, including Guston, Baziotes, Franz Kline, and Hans Hoffman.  He was attracted to the freshness and spontaneity of American painting and the New York School.
1958 
Zao exhibited at Kootz Gallery (continuing to do so until the gallery closed in 1967) as well as the Galerie de France in Paris.
1962 
Zao was commissioned by the French Minister of Culture to illustrate La Tentation de l’Occident.  Zao continued to work on engravings in 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1974 and 1975.
1964 
Zao was granted French citizenship.
1965 
A film was made about Zao Wou-ki by Jean-Michel Meurice and the two men became good friends.
1970 
Zao Wou-ki taught in Salzburg, Austria.
1971 
Zao’s second wife May became very ill and he stopped painting.
1972 
May died in early March and later that month Zao left France to visit China.
1973 
At the end of the year Zao began to paint again.
1975 
Galerie de France staged a large exhibition consisting of works produced over the previous two years of hard and constant work.  Zao had returned to using large formats for his work.
1976 
One room at the Pompidou Centre’s Musee National d’Art Moderne was devoted to an exhibition of Zao Wou-ki’s works.  The show was called Accrochage III and presented nine paintings executed between 1950-1975.
1977 
Fourteen large paintings by Zao were exhibited at the Fuji Television Gallery in Tokyo.  Later in the year, Zao travelled to Rome with his wife Francoise Marquet and saw an exhibition of the works of Nicolas Poussin.  Zao spent many hours sitting in front of the Poussin paintings.
1978 
Zao met the Baron and Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisa during their visit to Paris.  Later Zao went to Madrid for a show honouring Joan Miro, his long time friend.
1980 
Solo exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York.
1981 
One-man show in the galleries of the Grand Palais in Paris.  This was Zao’s first individual exhibition in a French museum.  This exhibition travelled to Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore in the following year.
1982 
Zao exhibited at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.  The show then went on to the National Museum of Modern Art in Singapore.  In October, Zao visited China for the opening of the Fragrant Hills Hotel designed by his good friend I.M.Pei.  Zao created two very large works done in Chinese ink for the opening.
1983 
A trip to Taiwan where the National Museum of History presented a collection of his works.  During the trip, Zao visited with the master Zhang Daqian.  The Ministry of Chinese Culture invited Zao, for the first time, to exhibit in China, simultaneously at the National Museum of Beijing and the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts.
1984 
Zao exhibited at the Krugier Gallery in Geneva.  Later in the year he presented ten large works of Chinese ink on paper at the Galerie de France.
1985 
Zao Wou-ki and his wife returned to China (Hangzhou) where both taught classes on painting, modern art and museology.
1986 
Exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York and at the Galerie de France, Paris, followed by a solo show in Korea.
1987 
The Fuji Television Gallery in Tokyo held an exhibition of recent works, ten years after they first presented the artist.
1988   
On the 40th anniversary of Zao’s arrival in France, the Artcurial Gallery organised a retrospective show at their Matignon Avenue location.  Artcurial also presented Zao’s most recent and largest works at the FIAC.
1989   
Paintings and Drawing in Indian Ink, Galerie Krugier Diteschen, Geneva
1990 
Retrospective, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Tours
1992 
The Artcurial Gallery exhibited works from the 80’s and the 90’s.
1993 
Retrospective, The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei; Zao’s first gallery exhibition in Hong Kong was Alisan Fine Arts, consisting of recent works on canvas and paper
1994 
Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, paintings and drawings in Indian ink; Robert R. Littman and Pierre Schneider organised the exhibition and wrote the catalogue preface
1995 
Maison de la Culture, Nevers
Galerie Lucien Schweitzer, Luexembourg, Henri Michaux/Zao Wou-ki, une rencontre-une amitie
1996 
Retrospective, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
Retrospective, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
Alisan Fine Arts Limited, Hong Kong
Art Galerie J. Bastien, Brussels
1996 
Jan Krugier Gallery, New York
1997 
Galerie Krugier-Ditesheim &Cie, Geneva
1997 
Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei
Galerie Thessa Herold, Paris
1998 
ARCO, Galerie Thessa Herold, Madrid
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Angers
1998/9 
Zao Wou-ki 60 Years of Painting retrospective exhibition, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai; Palace of Fine Arts, Beijing; Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
1999 
Zao Wou-ki Works in Ink 1953-1999: Writing Room, Figeac, France
“Maitres de l’Encre: Chang Dai-Chien, T’ang Haywen, Zao Wou-ki,” Musée de Pontoise, Paris, France
2000 
Zao Wou-ki, Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Musée du Petit-Palais, Paris, France
2001 
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia, Spain
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, Musée d'Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
Recent Inks, Institut Français, Barcelona, Spain
2002 
Signe(s) (regard crise sur des encresde Henri Michaux at Zao Wou-ki) Kamel Mennour Gallery, Paris, France
2003 
Retrospective Zao Wou-ki, curated by Markku Valkonen, Taidehalli, Helsinki, Finland
Zao Wou-ki Recent Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, U. S. A.
Zao Wou-ki Watercolours, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
Zao Wou-ki is received at the French Académie des Beaux Arts November 26
2004 
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dunkerque (Dunkerque Fine Arts Museum), France
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, Musée Fabre in Montpellier, France
2005 
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, Bridgestone Museum, Tokyo Japan
Zao Wou-ki Retrospective, Bellevue in Biarritz, France
2006  
Art & Imitation in China, the University museum and art gallery, The University of Hong Kong
Black & White Dream, Suzhou Museum, China – exhibition (paintings and inks on paper) wished by IM Pei for the reopening of the Suzhou Museum
Zao Wou-ki has been made a Grand Officier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur and decorated by the French President Jacques Chirac on 3rd November 2006 at the Palais de l’Elysée
2007  
3rd Shanghai Ink Biennial, “Exploration: New Ink Art Shanghai”, Zhu Qizhan Ar Museum, Shanghai, China
Exhibition Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China 2007, Central Library, Hong Kong
2007-2008 Castle- Museum of Nemours, France (October 07- January 08)
2008 
Zao Wou-Ki Retrospective, The French National Library, France (June – September)

SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
Folkwang Museu, Essen, Germany
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
Taiwan Museum of Art, Taichung, Taiwan
National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
National Osaka Art Museum, Osaka, Japan
Raffles City, Singapore
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Castagnola, Switzerland
The Tate Gallery, London, UK
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Boston, USA
Hirshorn Museum, Washington D.C., USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
The Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA