Xu Dongxiang is a Ph.D. Candidate in history, affiliated to the research centre on modern and contemporary China (CECMC) at École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). Before coming to the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia of the University of Tokyo, he received a B. A. in the Portuguese Language and Literature from Shanghai International Studies University (上海外國語大學) in 2013 and a M.A. in History from EHESS in 2015.

His Ph. D. dissertation focuses on the three so-called conservative intellectual groups of the early 20th-century China: the National Essence Group, the Southern Society and the Critical Review Group. By tracing their social-political engagements and cultural activities, this research aims to redefine what it means to be a conservative intellectual in China during an era of drastic change.