Messiaen is arguably more acclaimed in China’s art music circles than many of his contemporaries. Chen Qigang (b. 1951), a private student of Messiaen, stands out as a torchbearer among this generation of Chinese composers. That Chen was a student of Luo Zhongrong (b. 1924), one of the most revered Beijing-based composers, further connects the two vastly different musical worlds. What contributed to Messiaen’s stature in China may also be traced back through a monograph on Messiaen by Yang Liqing (1942#–2013), president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and also an eminent composer, to Yuri Kholopov’s O tryokh zarubezhnïkh sistemakh garmonii of 1966.