 He entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1958 to study the guqin.He was influenced by the playing styles of Liu Jingshao, Gu Meigeng, Shen Caonong, and Wei Zhongle in particular.He graduated in 1963 and stayed at the Conservatory and began research on guqin history and Chinese music after returning from Heilongjiang in the early 1970s during the "Cultural Revolution".