Li Yili was born in China in 1954. He graduated from the Fine Art Academy of South-west Teacher's College. Li began to take up woodblock printing and engraving in 1972. Subsequently, he concentrated on gouache prints. Having absorbed the Chinese traditional ways to describe mold-making by lines and techniques to engrave the folk art. His works have been exhibited in Japan, America, France, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He has won the golden prize on Japanese-Chinese Art Interflow Association, and the Spring City Art Show in Singapore. Some works have been stored up by more than twenty organizations, including the Ministry of Culture of China, the Art Gallery of China, the Great Britain Museum, the European Wood Engraving Foundation, the Engraving Gallery in Tokyo, etc.