Chang Hao was born in Changsha, Hunan in 1913. As a young child, he listened to the sound of his neighbor playing erhu (Chinese fiddle) and singing traditional opera pieces. His older brother, Zhang Ying, was good at playing erhu and xiao (vertical bamboo flute), and eventually taught him how to play erhu. He also learned how to sing gongchepu (traditional notation). He was accepted into the Shanghai National Training School of Music at the age of 17, which gave him a thorough understanding of Western classical music. In 1946, the Chinese government issued him a scholarship to study in France, where he developed a deep appreciation for the modern French composer Olivier Messiaen. Zhang won the Culture and Art Composition Award from the Sun Yat-sen Culture Foundation for his pantomime symphonic poem “Marble Flower.” He died in 2003.

(Source：Taiwan Music Institute)