Abstract: In Chinese musical thought, Yú (余) denotes more than a residual sound; it embodies a state of resonance in which the audible and the inaudible, the physical and the imagined, interpenetrate. Unlike a discrete pause or an empty interval, Yú extends the temporal life of a tone beyond its acoustic cessation, binding together the moment of performance, the gradual decay of vibration, and the listener’s perceptual afterimage. This temporal prolongation produces what may be described as a resonant field of time, in which past and present co-exist within a single auditory horizon, enabling a listening mode grounded in continuity and transformation rather than segmentation.

This paper examines Yú as a distinct temporal form within Chinese instrumental aesthetics, drawing on Daoist notions of xū–shí (虚实, emptiness and fullness) and the Confucian ideal of harmonic balance. Beyond performance practice, Yú is embedded in the cultural logic of instrument-making and the acoustic thought that shapes the production and perception of sound. These ideas are not only integral to the design and material configuration of instruments, but also to the ways in which sound is imagined to linger—physically, culturally, and cosmologically—after its audible presence has faded. The study extends this analysis to “silent instruments” in museum contexts, with particular attention to objects whose meanings have shifted from their original performative and social settings to curated states of display and preservation. In such contexts, instruments become sites of latent resonance: they no longer sound in real time, yet they invite temporal imagination, recalling past performances, embodied gestures, and historical narratives inscribed in their material form. Silence thus becomes an alternative mode of temporality, reframing presence through memory and interpretation rather than immediate acoustic experience.

Methodologically, the research integrates philosophical inquiry, organological analysis, and museum studies. It combines close examination of selected instruments in collection contexts with the study of their material, symbolic, and historical attributes, alongside critical readings of curatorial narratives. This interdisciplinary approach aims to articulate Yú as a temporal entanglement—where physical vibration, embodied memory, and historical time converge—and to contribute to broader cross-cultural debates on how music challenges linear conceptions of time. By positioning Yú within both its original philosophical framework and its recontextualisation in contemporary museum practice, the study offers a model of musical temporality rooted in continuity, interrelation, and the subtle co-presence of sounds and silence.

Recent publications by Samantha Jingyi Du:

Selected recent work and projects by Jingyi (Samantha) Du:

• Prize-winning paper: “The Afterlife of Sound Events: Yú 余, Temporal Transformation, and the Aesthetics of Chinese Instrumental Music,” awarded the ISST Founder’s Prize for New Scholars at the 19th Triennial Conference of the International Society for the Study of Time, Cagliari, 2026.
• Current MScR dissertation: “From Silent Instruments to Proxy Sound: Audibility, Interpretation, and Public Listening at St Cecilia’s Hall,” University of Edinburgh. This project examines silent musical instruments, museum audibility, proxy sound, and curatorial interpretation through musicology, sound studies, and museum theory.
• Recent conference work: Recent papers include work on Chinese instrumental aesthetics, sonic temporality, silent instruments, and music philosophy, presented at ISST 2026 and the RMA Music Philosophy Study Group Conference 2026.
• Forthcoming publication: A contribution to an edited volume on pacifism in traditional East Asia, currently in production.