Academic profile

Hou Xudong, male, born in 1968 in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, earned his Bachelor of History (1990), Master of History (1993), and Doctor of History (1996) from Beijing Normal University. He had done researches at the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from August 1996 to May 2008, holding positions as Assistant Research Fellow, Associate Research Fellow, and Research Fellow. Since May 2008, he has joined as a Professor at the Department of History, School of Humanities, Tsinghua University, and is currently a Dual-Appointed Professor at the Research and Conservation Center for Unearthed Texts and the Department of History, Tsinghua University, as well as a Ph.D. Supervisor. His primary research fields are History of the early and early medieval Chinese empires and unearthed documentary wood and bamboo slips, currently focusing on early Chinese empire formation and operational mechanisms.

His academic roles include Vice Chair of the 11th Academic Committee of Tsinghua University (January 2020–March 2025) and Editorial Board Member of Bamboo and Silk Manuscript Studies, Research on Bamboo and Wooden Slips, Bamboo and Silk, Excavated Documents, and Journal of Historical Science.