Ho Peng

Ho Peng

Ho Peng is a Chinese-born sinologist, historian, and university administrator known for his scholarship on Song dynasty political thought and modern Chinese international relations. He has held senior academic and leadership posts at major institutions in the People's Republic of China and abroad, combining textual scholarship on figures such as Wang Anshi with institutional reform efforts involving Peking University and international collaborations with Harvard University and University of Cambridge. His work engages with comparative inquiries linking Chinese intellectual history to debates in Western political thought and international law.

Early life and education

Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Ho Peng grew up during the late People's Republic of China formative decades amid national campaigns and reforms under leaders such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. He completed secondary studies in Jiangsu before matriculating at Peking University, where he studied Chinese literature and classical texts, drawing on teachers influenced by scholars from Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He later pursued graduate study at Harvard University under advisors connected to the fields of East Asian Studies and Sinology, engaging archival materials held at institutions like the Library of Congress and the National Archives (United States). During his doctoral training he worked alongside scholars affiliated with Columbia University and the University of Chicago on projects concerning Song dynasty administration and intellectual networks.

Academic career

Ho Peng began his academic career as a lecturer at Peking University's Department of History before taking appointments at research centers affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Institute of History and Philology. He served as visiting professor at Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and Stanford University, participating in seminars organized by the Association for Asian Studies and the International Congress of Historical Sciences. Within China, he was a faculty member in programs connected to Fudan University and collaborated with scholars from Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University on interdisciplinary symposia addressing premodern Chinese political texts and modern statecraft. His teaching covered courses on Song dynasty intellectual history, Confucian political theory linked to Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism, and comparative studies juxtaposing Chinese figures with Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes.

Scholarship and major works

Ho Peng's scholarship focuses on Song dynasty reformers, bureaucratic institutions, and the reception of Confucian classics in political practice. His monograph on Wang Anshi reexamines reformist policies within the context of Song fiscal administration and the civil service examination system, engaging primary sources from collections held at the National Library of China and manuscript fragments referenced by researchers at the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica. He authored "The Political Thought of Wang Anshi," which draws comparative lines to Kautilya and examines debates about statecraft found in Song histories such as the Song Shi. Another major contribution, "China and the International System," situates Chinese diplomatic practice alongside precedents in Treaty of Nerchinsk era negotiations and 19th-century interactions with European powers like United Kingdom and France, integrating archival material from the British Library and diplomatic collections at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China). Ho Peng has published articles in journals associated with Cambridge University Press and collaborated on edited volumes with scholars from Princeton University and the Australian National University that address transnational intellectual exchanges, the circulation of texts, and institutional reforms.

Administrative leadership and contributions

In administrative roles Ho Peng has directed major university initiatives emphasizing research capacity building, internationalization, and archival digitization. As an administrator at Peking University and later at institutions tied to provincial governments, he led partnerships with foreign universities including Harvard University, Oxford University, and University of California, Berkeley to create joint research centers and exchange programs. He oversaw the modernization of library collections in collaboration with the National Library of China and the digitization projects supported by grants from foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Ho Peng also participated in advisory committees convened by the Ministry of Education (China) and the China Scholarship Council to reform doctoral training and institute peer-review mechanisms modeled on practices at the European Research Council and the National Science Foundation (United States). His leadership emphasized collaborative networks linking Chinese institutions to centers like the East Asian Library at Harvard-Yenching Library and the Bodleian Library.

Awards and honors

Ho Peng's contributions to scholarship and international academic cooperation have been recognized with honors from both domestic and foreign bodies. He received distinctions from provincial cultural bureaus and academic societies such as the Chinese Historical Association and was awarded foreign honors including the Order of Friendship (Russia) for international collaboration and the Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques for contributions to academic exchange with France. He is an elected member of provincial academies and has served on advisory panels for the UNESCO Memory of the World program and committees affiliated with the International Council on Archives.

Category:Chinese historians Category:Sinologists Category:University administrators