Liu Tianhua, born in Jiangyin city of Wuxi, was one of the greatest composers in Chinese history though he died very young. He is also renowned for the reformation of the erhu, the traditional two-string bowled instrument. He had profound knowledge about Chinese traditional music, being able to play several instruments such as the erhu and the pipa, a four-stringed plucked instrument. He also studied Western music and played the violin.

Liu composed three pieces for the pipa and several pieces for the erhu, and all of them are masterpieces of the Chinese classical repertoire. He also made great contributions to improving the sound quality of the erhu, and composed such beautiful music for it that the instrument, which used to be a folk instrument used to accompany singers or local operas before his time, became a renowned solo instrument.

Liu Tianhua was a great educator, being professor of music at Peking University. He was active in the reform of the Chinese society of his time, and was friends with some of the pioneers and great thinkers who helped shape the country's modern history.