When listening to Flowing Water, people will think of Mr. Guan Pinghu, the famous Chinese Guqin player that has passed away. The piece has been included in the gold-painted bronze record carried by the spacecraft America sent out to the space on August 20 in 1977.

Guan Pinghu was born into an artist family in Beijing in 1895 and died in 1967. His training to be an artist began at an early stage when his father Guan Nianci, a famous painter, taught him skills about Qin, calligraphy and drawing. Later, he successively studied under Yang Zongji, Monk Wucheng in Suzhou of Jiangsu Province and Qin Heming in Shandong Province, three great players with distinct characteristics. Also influenced by folk music, he created his own strong style tainted with primitive simplicity.

In the early 1950s, he was employed as vice-researcher with China Institute for Folk Music. Perhaps, he is most remembered for retrieving a number of pieces which had fallen into a measure of desuetude (in particular Guangling Verse), for his performance of Flowing Water and for his work on ancient tablature symbols.

Classic works reconstructed by him include Flowing Water, Guangling Verse, Lisao, The Grand Hujia, White Snow, and Orchid in Seclusion.