Liu Tianhua Poster

Liu Tianhua Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China (1895–1932)

Liu was a noted erhu and pipa player, and an early pioneer in the modernization of traditional Chinese music. He joined Cai Yuanpei's Peking University Music Society as an instrumental instructor in 1922. He promoted Chinese music while he was at Peking University, founded the Society for the Improvement of Chinese Music in 1927 and its periodical, the Music Magazine. The society organized classes and formed a musical ensemble to play Chinese music, a forerunner of the modern Chinese orchestra. He made improvements to the traditional fiddle huqin, in particular the erhu, so that it can become an instrument suitable for a modern stage performance, and wrote music for the instrument. He also made changes to the pipa, increasing the number of frets and used an equal-tempered tuning.