Pang Xunqin (1906–1985) was of Changshu (Jiangsu Province) descent but was born in Shanghai. From 1921 to 1924, he studied medicine at the Aurora University (now Fudan University). From 1925 to 1930, he studied in France at the Julian Academy (“Académie Julian”) and the Grande Chaumière Academy (“Académie de la Grande Chaumière”). In the following year, having returned to China, he began to teach at Shanghai Changming Art College. In the same year, he founded the Storm Society in Shanghai with Ni Yide, which was the first of its kind that aimed to bring a Western-style art world to China. 

In the late 1930s, he devoted himself to the collection and arrangement of decorative patterns that originated from China’s previous dynasties in addition to various patterns that belonged to Guizhou minority ethnic groups. He became engaged in the design, teaching, and theoretical research of craftsmanship ever since. He has held academic positions at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts (now Nanjing University of the Arts), Central Academy of Art (now China Academy of Art), and Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (now the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University). His published works include Research of Chinese Decorated Picture of Various Dynasties (“中国历代饰画研究”), On Arts and Crafts (“论工艺美术”), and Designing Arts and Crafts (“工艺美术设计”).