Xin Yu

Xin Yu is a historian of medieval China and Silk Road, specializing in the study of Dunhuang manuscripts and the Tang dynasty. He obtained his PhD at Peking University, and joined Fudan University in 2003. He has been Professor of Medieval Chinese History at Fudan since 2011. He has held appointments as visiting professor at École des hautes études en sciences sociales, École normale supérieure, Princeton University, Kyoto University, and as a Starr Foundation East Asian Studies Endowment Fund Member at the Institute for Advanced Study. At the MPIWG, he is working on the research project “The Cosmic Board Divination in Medieval China: Integrated Studies on the Manuscript of Divination Book”. His research interests lie in natural history, manuscript culture, and the social history of knowledge and religion. He has published numerous books and articles, including Signs of the Extraordinary in Medieval China: Erudition, Belief, and Society in the Age of Manuscripts (2011); Savoir traditionnel et pratiques magiques sur la route de la Soie (2018). He is also the chief editor of a series of research monographs: Studies of Knowledge, Faith, and Institutions in Medieval China as well as the bilingual academic journal Medieval China.