Professor Wang Xiaoyang from the Faculty of Innovation and Design at City University of Macau has been awarded the Second Prize in the Monograph and Research Paper Category of the 10th Ministry of Education Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award (Humanities and Social Sciences) for his monograph, A Study on the Chronological Historiographical System of Chinese Religious Art Archaeology (Science Press, 2024).

The Ministry of Education Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award (Humanities and Social Sciences) is an authoritative national award that recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of humanities and social sciences in China. Professor Wang's award marks the first time that City University of Macau's discipline of Art Studies has received this honor. It also represents the first time that an arts-related discipline in Macao has received the Second Prize in this award category.

With more than 500,000 Chinese characters, the monograph systematically examines the development of Chinese religious art archaeology. Based on publicly available archaeological reports published between 1949 and 2019, the study comprehensively reviews more than seven decades of archaeological materials and compiles, for the first time: the Chronological Table of Archaeological Reports on Chinese Religious Art and the Chronological Table of Research Reviews on Chinese Religious Art Archaeology. filling an important gap in the field.

At the theoretical level, the study focuses on several key areas: it constructs a complete chronological historiographical system, analyzes the major developmental phases of Chinese religious art archaeology, establishes evaluation indicators for scholarly attention, expands research perspectives via maritime archaeology, and approaches to cultural heritage preservation and interpretation.

The monograph is a research outcome of the National Major Project The Multi-volume History of Chinese Religious Art and serves as the final research outcome of the National Key Research Project A Study on the Chronological Historiographical System of Chinese Religious Art Archaeology. The project received an "Excellent" rating upon completion, and the finished monograph has been selected for the National Philosophy and Social Sciences Achievement Library —the National Philosophy and Social Sciences Achievement Library.

This award marks Professor Wang Xiaoyang's second consecutive Second Prize in the Ministry of Education Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Award (Humanities and Social Sciences). Three years prior, his monograph Studies on the History of Chinese Tomb Murals claimed the Second Prize at the 9th iteration of the same award. Winning the Second Prize in two consecutive editions of this prestigious award demonstrates Professor Wang's sustained academic achievements and reflects the recognition of his interdisciplinary research spanning Chinese art history, archaeology and cultural heritage studies.