Born in Taichung, Taiwan, C.J. Yao (1941–2000) graduated from the National Taiwan Normal University in 1965. He won an Honor Award at the Fifth International Youth Artist Exhibition in Tokyo in 1969. In 1970, he participated in the tenth Biennale International in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In 1970, he moved to New York and started to devote his energies to Photo-Realist creations where his main interest was in urban life and environment. Based on his success, the United Nations invited Yao to lecture in China, which enabled him to introduce Photorealism there. He was also invited to serve as guest professor at the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing and Shanghai University. In 1994, he was awarded the Honor Overseas Painters Contribution Award of ROC Art Galleries Association. In the book "The Art of New York" of Abrams Editions, Yao was selected as one of major artists based in New York since 100 years ago. His work is found in public collections in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the National Taiwan Museum of Art and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts.