The Palace Museum in Beijing held a memorial event for Zhang Zhongpei on Tuesday. The renowned archaeologist died of illness on July 5 aged 83.

Born in Changsha, Hunan province, he graduated from Peking University and set up the archaeology department of Jilin University in Changchun, Jilin province, in 1972.

He was director of the Palace Museum, which is also known as the Forbidden City, from 1988 to 1991, and created the foundation for a comprehensive protection of the institution.

Zhang also helped with protection programs of other historical sites in the country.

The memorial was attended by Wang Wei, former head of Archaeology Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and Wu Zhenwu, vice-president of Jilin University, who all whom were taught by Zhang at some point in their lives.