Professor Li was mainly inspired by his father and two other professors. Later, after visiting many ancient buildings in Kinmen, Taiwan, and other regions, he became determined to study ancient architecture. The book, Residential Architecture of Kinmen, is a record of what the professor saw and heard when he served his military service in Kinmen, which started the path of writing books to record ancient buildings for him.

Professor Li said that the layman's view of the building is one-sided. The exterior is one side, and when they walk to the back of the building, they see another side. The interior is yet another angle, so the layman view is fragmented. However, in fact, there are a front, back, left and right side in a building, and we can even “open it up” to see the architecture’s inside. Generally, people see all the sides separately, but Professor Li has a way to conceive the architecture as a whole, looking at the all sides of the building - front, back, and inside, so it can be combined as a three-dimensional image. This is because when the professor was studying in the department of architecture, he drew floor plans, elevations, back views, top views, and sections every day. The professional training gave him the capability of perspective view and making hand drawings.

As the saying goes, "When three are walking together, I am sure to find teachers among them." When we learn anything, the knowledge and skills that each teacher can offer are different. Professor Li also has some friends who are both his teachers and friends. Friends learn from each other and complement each other. The professor's father is very good at drawing architectural drawings. Professor Li has been nurtured by his father since childhood. He even has some special insights on how to sharpen pencils and how to draw the straightest lines with a ruler.

In elementary school, Professor Li learned painting from Chen Jing-hui, an art teacher of Tamkang Middle School. Mr. Chen is specialized in fine-painted “Eastern Gouache”, which is a Japanese painting method that uses a brush. Professor Li learned from Mr. Chen that observation is very important and one has to look very carefully to complete a painting. He realized that this is a scientific way to observe things, and even the hair and eyebrows can be drawn in great detail.

Afterwards, he had the opportunity to meet other painters, including Shiy De-Jin and Ma Pai-Sui, both of whom are famous for their watercolor paintings. There are also many teachers who he did not directly learn from, but he would buy their painting albums to study. Prof. Li said: "Every teacher has his or her strengths. You may only learn a part of him or her from each teacher, and it is impossible to get all the teacher’s expertise. It doesn't matter. Since each teacher has their strengths and the part they can teach you, you must master this part for sure. Learn from a few more teachers and you will become more complete.”

Most of Professor Li's painting teachers do not paint architecture but draw human body, still life, fruit, and other themes. Only Professor Li and Shiy De-Jinn take a liking to drawing buildings. However, he has gained knowledge and skills in copying, coloring, and modeling from the teachers. After mastering such skills, he can learn by analogy and start integrating the skills in his own style.

Professor Li's favorite book is his first book in Kinmen, Residential Architecture of Kinmen, and the book he spends his most time on is Great Craftsmen and Amazing Technique: Aerial Perspective of Classical Ancient Architecture in China , for which he spent two decades collecting materials before completing the beautiful paintings.

The “Cultural Heritage Preservation Act” sounds very profound and far away from our daily life, but Professor Li told us that it is closely related to our culture. Because of these relevant laws and regulations, private buildings can also be identified as cultural assets, receive government subsidies, and then have funds to be maintained. He was very happy that the "Cultural Heritage Preservation Act" was promulgated and implemented, as many opportunities to preserve historic sites were lost without this law before. It turns out that the maintenance of historic sites is not just a verbal appeal to persuade more people to care about these beautiful buildings, but also a practical approach to be achieved by the law, in order to be efficient and effective.

According to Professor Li, human knowledge and culture accumulate with time, and the area of land on the earth suitable for human habitation is fixed. If the old buildings are demolished for urban development and new buildings are continuously built, human beings will forget our ancestors. Government intervention can effectively help the preservation of historic sites. It seems everyone wants a new building, but if the government is willing to give the same benefits as building a new building to the owner of the historic site, I believe that the owner of the historic site must be willing to restore and maintain the traditional buildings of their ancestors and preserve them for generations to pass on.

(quoting Prof. Li) “I am most impressed by the architecture in Taiwan and China. In Taiwan, I think the most impressive architecture is the North Gate, which has red walls, several holes, and semi-circular holes below. Inside the building on the second floor, it has two layers of walls, four wooden pillars, and carvings on the top. Surprisingly, the exterior of the North Gate is a fortress, a highly guarded citadel. However, its interior has carvings just like temples, displaying distinct styles. Therefore, I used architectural hand-drawing with an aerial perspective to demonstrate the internal and external differences. It is also worth mentioning that the architectural hand-drawing of the Lung-Shan Temple was the most challenging. Lung-Shan Temple has Buddha statues and a caisson ceiling. I visited the Temple ten times and spent about ten days accomplishing the drawing. I think architecture is a combination of stone and wood for sure, but it also has spirituality and life. After long-term contact, Lung-Shan Temple and I became good friends.”

“I visited a pagoda in the Shanxi Province of China. It is twenty stories high and constructed with wood. To my great surprise, each floor of the pagoda has different Buddha statues. After inquiring with a mage from Hong Kong, I realized that its construction was based on the concept of Buddhism. There is only one Buddha statue on the first floor, representing Exoteric Buddhism, and there are five Buddha statues on the fifth floor, representing Esoteric Buddhism. Firstly, the Exoteric, then Esoteric. Different state of mind corresponds to different Buddha statues. During the climbing of the pagoda, the architecture and space emphasize that body and mind are one. Although feeling tired, you will have different feelings. If a historic building is interesting or shows a sharp contrast, which makes me feel surprised, I would like to use architectural hand drawing to demonstrate it.”

Professor Li feels that architecture is not only wood, cement, and bricks. When we walk into the historic sites, what we feel is not only the building itself, but also the flow of wind, smell, and location so that there are different feelings at each site. VR technology can help people who cannot go to the site in person, but to truly appreciate the beauty of monuments, you need to go to the site to feel the invisible atmosphere.

Professor Li made us realize that restoring a historic site to its original condition is basically an impossible task, but we still have to try our best. In addition, the lower the replacement ratio of historic site renovation, the more successful it is. In other words, the percentage of original objects must be high in order to restore the former appearance of a historic site as much as possible.

According to Professor Li, in an advanced metropolis, due to its long history, there must be buildings of different generations, which may be 100 years old, 50 years old, 30 years old, or new buildings about to be constructed. For example, the Louvre Museum in Paris has a history of more than 300 years. It has a century-old history with the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is not against harmony for these traditional buildings to coexist with other high-rise buildings on the street. It still has the reputation of being the most beautiful street in the romantic city Paris. The combination of renovated historic sites and new buildings has become an architectural masterpiece of this generation.

We can regard ancient buildings as old friends and visit them often. Or, we can think of a historic building as an old book; by reviewing it we can gain new insights. Historic architecture is similar to a treasure. Every time you visit it, you will get new findings. Also, we can view historic architecture as a tourist site. Before visiting it, do some research and use your eyes to observe it. The feeling is hardly understood by others. I have been to Hsinchu City God Temple. The couplet in the Temple is simple, connecting the imagery of rain and flower, but deeply impressed me. Therefore, every time you visit a historic site, you can observe different points. This will make you obtain different knowledge and understanding.

The Ministry of Culture in Taiwan has set up a course on the restoration of ancient buildings and invited various experienced craftsmen and professors to teach the course in order to cultivate "new blood" who are enthusiastic about the skills of traditional craftsmen. This is similar to the concept of a student going to a "tutorial" class, and after a period of study, he or she will receive a certificate in the craft. Although there are still some differences from the traditional "master-apprentice" system, and the content and proficiency of learning may be limited, the intensive training can still prevent the loss of traditional skills as much as possible.