Liu Mingyuan


Liu Mingyuan was a prominent Chinese musician, composer, and teacher. He played the Chinese bowed string instruments banhu, zhonghu, gaohu, erhu, jinghu, and zhuihu, among others, as well as the piano.

Biography

Born in Tianjin, Mingyuan began studying music from his father and eventually learned to play a wide variety of traditional genres including pingju, Cantonese music, and Beijing opera.
He composed and arranged several popular guoyue pieces, many of which are based on traditional Chinese melodies. Among his best-known compositions are Xi Yang Yang, Happy Year, and Ten Elder Sisters. Among his solos for the erhu are Henan Tune.
Along with Liu Tianhua and Abing, Liu is considered one of China's three finest traditional instrumentalists of the 20th century.