The earliest known "History of Chinese Music" in China was written by Gu Meigan in 1920.

In the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1899), Gu Meigan was born into a family of guqin artists from a scholarly family in Changsha City, Hunan Province. His great-grandfather Gu Gengshan was a famous calligrapher and painter in Chengdu, Sichuan; his grandfather Gu Yucheng was an alternate Zhili Prefecture in Hunan during the Qing Dynasty, and was a direct disciple of Zhang Kongshan, the originator of the Sichuan sect, a master of modern guqin

(In most published works One of the main disciples of Zhang Kongshan mentioned in the history of ancient Chinese music and piano), and also a famous calligrapher and painter. His father Gu Zheqing (a scholar in the Qing Dynasty) and his uncle Gu Zhuoqun are both influential figures in the modern qin world. Gu Meigan was influenced by his grandfather Gu Yucheng when he was young and loved traditional Chinese culture and the art of Guqin.

When he was in private school at the age of six, he studied the classics and history, the Four Books and the Five Classics, and could recite them all fluently. He studied painting under Su Guqing, a famous Hunan painter in the late Qing Dynasty. He was good at painting plums, orchids and bamboos. His paintings were praised by Chinese painters as: "The words reveal the style of a gentleman who is tolerant, kind and magnanimous." In his calligraphy, he imitated the calligraphy of Li Beihai, a famous calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty.

It was in this environment where he grew up that he was deeply influenced by the art of guqin. At the age of 12, he began to formally study piano with his father Gu Zheqing and uncle Gu Zhuoqun. The first song was "Drunk Fishermen Singing Late", which became a favorite in the music world. During this period, his qin art had been passed down by the Sichuan School, and he joined the Nanxun Qin Society founded by his family.

In 1959, the Shenyang Conservatory of Music opened the Guqin major. Li Jiefu, a famous musician who was the dean of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music at the time, sent Mr. Zhu Yuzhi, the director of the Folk Music Department, to Beijing to recruit Gu Meigan to the Folk Music Department. Engaged in teaching professional Guqin. Since then, Gu Meigan has become the first person majoring in Guqin in music colleges in Northeast China.

Sow seeds in areas that were likened to “cultural deserts” by ancient literati, and they will blossom and bear fruit. During this period, many celebrities in today's piano world were taught by him. Such as: Gu Zechang, Ding Jiyuan, Ding Chengyun, etc.