Bo Ya (Chinese: 伯牙; pinyin: Bó Yá) was a Chinese qin player from the state of Chu (楚), which is roughly equivalent to modern-day Jingzhou, Hubei, who lived during the Spring and Autumn period or Warring States period. His complete name is often incorrectly given as Yu Boya (俞伯牙) in Stories to Caution the World (警世通言), so he is sometimes referred to with the name of Yu Boya in modern literature. However, Bo Ya is the correct name, which is clarified in Lüshi Chunqiu (吕氏春秋). Life Learning Guqin Bo Ya is well known in the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period for his Guqin skill. According to Qincao (琴操）written by Cai Yong, He learned his Guqin skill from Chenglian, another famous Guqin player. When he was studying Guqin, his teacher brought him to Mount Penglai and left Bo Ya. Bo Ya was immersed in the natural sound of the waves and the mountain forest, and wrote down a piece of music called Shuixiancao (水仙操). After this experience, he becomes one of the best Guqin players in his times. The story about Zhiyin Bo Ya was good at playing the qin. Zhong Ziqi (锺子期) was good at listening to the qin. When Bo Ya's will was towards high mountains in his playing, Zhong Ziqi would say, "How towering like Mount Tai!" When Bo Ya's will was towards flowing water in his playing, Zhong Ziqi would say, "How vast are the rivers and oceans!" Whatever Bo Ya thought of Ziqi would never fail to understand. Bo Ya said, "Amazing! Your heart and mine are the same!" After Zhong Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke his Guqin because he thought that no one else can understand his music. Bo Ya's story with Zhong Ziqi generates the term Zhiyin (Chinese: 知音, original meaning: someone who knows music well), which from then on means close friends that can completely understand each other. Musical work High Mountain and Flowing Stream High Mountain (Chinese: Gao Shan, 高山) and Flowing Stream (Chinese: Liu Shui, 流水) were originally sections of the same piece of music, with the first four sections recognized as "High Mountain" and the last eight sections recognized as "Flowing Stream." It is also said to be the music that Bo Ya played to Zhong Ziqi as it contains both elements of "towering like Mount Tai" and "vast rivers and oceans." Shuixiancao Shuixiancao(水仙操) was composed