明立國（1952），民族音樂學者。祖籍山東昌邑，出生於花蓮縣鳳林鎮。父母親聽平劇的習慣，以及個人對音樂的熱愛，構成了他研究音樂的一個成長背景與基調。大學時期，明立國向演奏家李世登學習古典吉他，並與李哲洋、呂炳川等音樂學前輩維持密切的互動，1979年參與比較音樂學會的籌備及成立工作，開始正式投入民族音樂學的調查研究。1983年受文建會委託參與阿美族音樂舞蹈調查研究計畫，展開了原住民文化的系統性研究。1990年受劉鳳學教授委託製作「臺灣原住民歌舞系列」的大型展演計畫，並與林二教授共同促成「金曲獎」的設置。1996年應聘南華大學，持續進行許多展演、文化資產、社區營造及數位典藏等相關之計畫，對臺灣民族音樂學及原住民音樂文化的研究與復振貢獻良多。

MING Li-Kuo (b. 1952) is an ethnomusicologist. His ancestral home is Changyi, Shandong, and he was born in Fenglin Township, Hualien County. Growing up in a household where his parents enjoyed listening to pingju (Ping Opera), he developed an early and intuitive interest in music appreciation and instrument learning—an inclination that laid the foundation for his lifelong engagement with music. During his university years, Ming studied guitar with performer Li Shih-Teng and maintained close interactions with senior music scholars such as Li Che-Yang and Lü Bing-Chuan. In 1979, he participated in the preparatory work for founding the Society for Ethnomusicology in Taiwan, marking the beginning of his academic pathway in ethnomusicology. In 1983, he was commissioned by the Council for Cultural Affairs to take part in the research project on Amis music, which initiated his systematic investigation of the music and dance traditions of Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples. In 1990, under the invitation of Professor Liu Feng-Hsüeh, he produced the series Music and Dance of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples, and, together with Professor Lin Erh, contributed to the establishment of the Golden Melody Awards. After receiving his M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1996, he joined Nanhua University, where he continued to lead numerous major research and performance projects on Taiwan Indigenous cultures. His work has made substantial contributions to both the scholarly study and cultural revitalization of Taiwanese Indigenous music.