Duo Xu Successfully Defends Her PhD Dissertation

18 November 2025

Photo: CSMC

Congratulations to Duo Xu on defending her doctoral dissertation and completing her PhD in Sinology! The viva voce examination took place on 18 November 2025.

Duo Xu’s dissertation deals with The Spread of Central Asian Music towards the East: Early in the 20th century, archaeologists found ancient short lute music scores in the caves of Dunhuang, China. These scores date back to around the 10th century and show how music was written, including details about melody and rhythm. Some similar scores found in Japan suggest that these musical ideas traveled from China to Japan between the 7th and 9th centuries. The symbols and signs in these old scores are quite alike, indicating a connection.

In her dissertation, Duo Xu investigated how Central Asian music spread eastward through medieval China and into Japan. She studied the history of Central Asian music and the importance of old manuscripts and music scores to better understand their tuning systems and cultural meanings, and examined both the Dunhuang scores and those found in Japan, applying theories about how music adapts over time. The dissertation also looked at artwork on murals and manuscripts, which offer visual clues about the musical instruments and performances of that time.