有「中國弓弦樂之神手」美譽的劉明源，一九三一年農曆五月二十八日生於天津，一九九六年二月二十一日病逝於北京。六歲從父親學習板胡和京胡，七歲登台，十五歲從事於音樂工作，曾學習絲竹音樂、廣東音樂、京劇、評劇、河北梆子等。一九四七至一九五二年，在天津勝利、皇宮、永安、惠中等歌舞團及評劇團任樂隊隊員。一九五七年，以中國青年藝術家代表身份參加第六屆世界青年聯歡節民間樂器演奏比賽，榮獲金質獎章。一九八二年起，擔任中國音樂學院器樂系教授，除了胡琴之外，劉明源還學會彈鋼琴，曾擔任過爵士鋼琴師；同時，亦曾拜師學習蒙古歌謠，對蒙古音樂風格頗能掌握。劉明源致力於發展中國的弓弦樂器：曾改革研製了高音和中音板胡，又創製了中胡，並創作和改編有《喜車紅馬送糧忙》、《豐收樂》、《馬車在田野上奔馳》等板胡曲，《草原上》等中胡曲及《喜洋洋》等民樂合奏曲，風靡全國，深受聽眾的普遍歡迎。
LIU Ming-yuan
LIU Ming-yuan was born on July 13, 1931 in Tianjin, Hebei province and passed away of illness on February 21, 1996 in Beijing. Influenced by his father, LIU Ming-yuan started to learn the banhu and Beijing opera at the age of five. He gave his first stage performance at the age of seven. When he was eleven, he joined the performing activities of some Chinese music groups in Tianjin, thus having the opportunity of listening to and learning from various musicians for different kinds of Chinese music. In between 1947 to 1951, he joined the ensembles of Song and Dance Troupes in Tianjin. In 1952, he worked as instrumentalist and orchestrator in a Tianjin drama group. Since 1953 when the first professional Chinese orchestra in China was established with twenty eight members by a film company, he had been serving that orchestra as soloist and leader. Over the thirty years, he had been involved in the production of music for nearly a thousand films. In 1957, LIU Ming-yuan joined the traditional instrumental competition in the 6th World Youth Festival and won a gold medal. In 1982, he started to teach in China Conservatory and concentrated his major efforts in teaching. Under his guidance, some young soloists won awards in international Chinese music competitions. He became a representative figure among the Chinese bow string masters after LIU Tian-hua and Ah Bing.