Description

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) is regarded as the apex of the development of law in pre-modern China, perhaps best epitomized by the preparation and promulgation of the Tang Code in the 7th century, which served as the foundation for subsequent dynastic codes and which also strongly influenced codified law in East Asia. While much scholarship has focused on the Tang Code and other sources of Tang law, less scholarship has been done (especially scholarship in Western languages) on understanding how law was actually implemented and applied in Tang society, as well as how Tang officials thought about and worked through the law in legal cases and disputes. This talk aims to add to our understanding of these areas through the examination and analysis of selected panwen (written legal judgments) that have survived from the Tang, including hypothetical panwen (used by Tang officials to prepare for certain civil service examinations) and actual panwen from real cases.

About The Speaker

Norman P. Ho is an Assistant Professor of Law at Peking University School of Transnational Law (PKU-STL). He previously taught as a lecturer in the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. He is also a non-resident research fellow of the Netherlands China Law Center and an honorary fellow of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law.

His research interests lie primarily in Chinese legal history, legal philosophy, Chinese law, and comparative jurisprudence; he also writes in the area of comparative corporate law. Prior to joining the PKU-STL faculty, Norman practiced law in the law firms of Morrison & Foerster LLP and Slaughter and May. He received his J.D. degree from New York University and his A.M. and A.B. degrees (focusing on Chinese history) from Harvard and has also spent time as a Harvard-Yenching Fellow in Peking University’s Dept. of History.