Joan Stanley-Baker was born Hsu Hsiao-hu (Xu Xiaohu) in Nanking of Chinese and European parents. She grew up in Europe, China and America, and obtained her D.Phil. From the University of Oxford. She wrote several catalogues for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in British Columbia where she was inaugural Curator of Asian Art. She has taught Chinese and Japanese art history at National Taiwan University and the University of Melbourne. Recently she served as Director of the University Arts Centre at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, where she teaches at the Centre for General Education.