Yu Jigao (1932) was born in Tongshan, Jiangsu Province. He entered the Art Department of Nanjing University in 1951, and graduated from the Art Department of Nanjing Normal University in 1955. In 1957, he was transferred to the Jiangsu Academy of Chinese Painting, specializing in the creation and research of "meticulous" (gongbi, 工笔) flower-and-bird painting.