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SSPIZS welcomes Dr Hai Du, Research Associate of the School of
History, Religions and Philosophies
“I am an Associate Professor at the Institute of Dunhuang Studies, Lanzhou University. My research interests include Dunhuang and Turfan studies, as well as the history and archaeology of the Silk Road. From January 2026 to December 2027, I will serve as a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, working with Professor Almut Hintze on the project Textual Cultures and Archaeological Evidence: Elucidating the History of the Silk Road (3rd–11th centuries).
In recent years, my research has focused on Sogdians in medieval China, with particular attention to Dunhuang and Turfan. I examine the historical transformations of Sogdian communities and the ways in which they negotiated and reshaped their cultural and social lives within Chinese contexts. Building on this foundation, my current work extends the research scope from China to Central Asia, aiming to clarify how historical actors, polities, and communities were named, remembered, and reinterpreted across regions and multilingual traditions.
I also conduct field-based research on Sogdian tombs and archaeological sites in north-western China. In particular, I investigate recurring patterns in excavated objects, murals, and ritual practices that may reveal connections among Sogdian communities along the Silk Road. From a comparative perspective spanning Iran to China, I further develop cross-regional studies of tombs and mortuary landscapes.” |
