On March 21, 2003 (February 19, 2003 in the lunar calendar), Mr. Cai Jikun, the "father of Taiwan Symphony", died of illness in Fuzhou. Cai Jikun (1908~2003.3.21) China composer and conductor. People from Quanzhou, Fujian. Cai Jikun is one of the oldest conductors in the world. In 1932, he graduated from Jimei Senior Normal School in Xiamen and stayed there as an orchestra conductor. Later, he went to the Imperial Academy of Music in Tokyo, Japan to study composition and conducting. In 1936, he wrote the orchestra "Xunjiang Fishing Fire" and won the first prize in the Japanese International Symphony Music Public Collection. After returning to China in 1937, he worked in the Education Department of the Fujian Province Government; in 1940, he founded the Provincial Fujian Music College (changed to a national state in 1942) and became the first president. In 1945, when Taiwan was restored, Cai Jikun was invited by Chen Yizhi, then Chief Executive of Taiwan, to establish the "Taiwan Province Garrison Command Symphony Orchestra", the predecessor of the current "Taiwan Symphony Orchestra", and served as head and conductor. The orchestra often tours various parts of Taiwan, winning praise from people from all walks of life in Taiwan, and is known as the "father of Taiwan's symphony." In 1955, he was elected Vice Chairman of the Southeast Asia Music Conference and Chairman of the Music Education and Music Culture Committee. He spared no effort in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the Philippines, and has been praised by successive presidents of the Philippines for his superb conducting art and outstanding musical talent. In 1949, Cai Jikun was appointed as a professor at the School of Music at the University of Manila in the Philippines, and as a conductor of the Manila Performing Symphony Orchestra. In 1983, Cai Jikun sold all his property in the Philippines and resolutely returned to Fujian with his life savings and eleven boxes of precious music scores and materials. He returned to China in 1989 to establish Fujian Social Conservatory of Music and Fujian Conservatory of Music in 1993. In 1995, he received the certificate of "Outstanding Achievement Person" issued by the American International Center for Distinguished Persons. In 2000, at the age of 91, he took the stage to conduct the symphony orchestra and performed several times in Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou, shaking the music scene. The Organizing Committee of the 3rd China Music Golden Bell Awards awarded Cai Jikun the "Medal of Honor for Life." He died of illness in Fuzhou on March 21, 2003. His musical works also include the opera "Defending Great Fujian", which reflects the content of the War of Resistance, the songs "Song of the War of Resistance" and "I am China", the piano music "Dance Dance" and "Jishan After the Rain", the oratorio "The Tragic Farewell", the artistic song "Lovesick Everlasting", etc. Cai Jikun's first wife, Ye Baoyi, who worked for the Fujian Province government, was a colonel instructor at the Chongqing Army Military Music School and died of illness in 1975. In June 1938, Cai Jikun (second from right in the front row) led the "Battlefield Singing Troupe" to pay tribute to Chen Yi, Chairman of Fujian Province (seventh from right in the front row). In 1939, when Cai Jikun led the "Nanyang Overseas Chinese Condolence Group" of Fujian Province to the Philippines to express condolences, he took a group photo with celebrities in the Chinese community. The person sitting in the middle of the front row is Cai Jikun, and the fourth on the right is Cai's uncle. In 1940, Cai Jikun took a group photo with foreign music teachers when he went to Shanghai to recruit them. On January 30, 1941, Cai Jikun, who also served as conductor, took a group photo with members of the Fujian Province government military band. Cai Jikun while conducting a performance was photographed in 1941.