Xianzhang Zhao was the Vice Director of the Academic Council at Nanjing University, the Director of the Department of Chinese and the Vice President of Chinese Art Theory Academy. He works on the education and research of form aesthetics, and the research of literal graphic theory. He was awarded the First Prize of Outstanding Achievements in Education, the Grand Prize of Baosteel Education Foundation Outstanding Teacher, and the First Prize of Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research of Jiangsu Provincial Government. In 2003, He was rated as an Outstanding Contribution Expert of the Youth in Jiangsu province. In 2004, he was awarded the First Humanistic Research Contribution Prize at Nanjing University.