Du Cun Li was born in Tainan, Taiwan, and was ancestrally from Longxi County, Fujian. In 1937, he came south to Malaya and served as principal of Sepang Nan Chiau School and physical education director of Singapore Tao Nan School. Du devoted his life to the study of calligraphy and was skilled in seal, clerical, running, cursive, and regular scripts. After the 1990s, he focused his energy on teaching calligraphy. His style continued the lineage of the Tang Yan-style Yuanjie Stele, while his characters show the flavor of Qing calligrapher Hua Shikui. He also enjoyed gripping cotton soaked with ink in his palm and writing with his fist instead of a brush.