Kwa Geok Choo Distinguished Visitors Lecture - Rethinking Confucius's (and Confucian) Legal Thought

Event Date

From Thursday 26 Feb 2026 - 05:30 PM To Thursday 26 Feb 2026 - 07:00 PM

Venue

Yale-NUS College Hall, University Town (Kent Ridge Campus)

Organiser

National University of Singapore Faculty of Law

Practice Area

Contemporary issues in legal practice

MEC segment

Training Level

Foundation

Public CPD Points

Event Outline

Many describe Asian legal systems as “Confucian,” but what does that mean? The standard view depicts Confucius as favoring ritual (li), moral cultivation, and leniency over law (fa), contrasting him with Legalist thinkers. This lecture challenges that view by moving beyond the Analects to sources such as Confucius’s biography and the Kongzi jiayu, revealing a legal thought closer to Legalism and raises broader questions about sources and the gap between words and actions.

Event Link

Event Attachment

NUS-12F-260057_EventBrochure.pdf