Confucianism, Law, and Music in Tang China
Date changed to 25 April, 2025 (Friday)
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Venue: Rm 624, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong
This seminar looks at the relationship between law, music, and Confucianism in Tang dynasty China. Prof Ho will attempt to show that: ancient Confucian and Tang thought emphasized the close relationship between music, society, government, and law; in turn, the Tang state music bureaucracy reflected such Confucian and Tang thought and beliefs; and then, through discussion of actual specific cases from the Tang dynasty, show that these beliefs and institutional structures were reinforced and buttressed by codified Tang law and Tang legal institutions. Prof Ho will also situate this project within the law and music “field” more generally.
About the speaker
Norman P. HO is Professor of Law at Peking University School of Transnational Law (“STL”). He teaches and writes in the areas of property law, Chinese legal history & legal thought, legal theory, and law & the humanities (especially law and music) and is the founder of the STL Law & Humanities Seminar Series which he has convened since 2020. He has taught as a Visiting Professor of Law at National University of Singapore and at Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. Prior to entering academia, he practiced in the law firms of Morrison & Foerster and Slaughter and May. He holds AB (History) and AM (Regional Studies-East Asia) degrees from Harvard, an MA (with Distinction) in Music from The Open University (UK), and a JD from NYU Law.
Chaired by Prof Daniel Bell, Professor, Chair of Political Theory, Faculty of Law, HKU