The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee originates from China in the late 1800s, but its author remains unknown to this day. Judge Dee seems to be a serially popular fictional character whose fortunate inclusion in the world's literature shines some valuable light on the role of local law enforcement in China during that time period. In his role as judge, Dee is called upon to investigate any legal infringements in his district, prove guilt, and exact punishments. He's a well-respected and well-feared man in his community for good reason. His approach to interrogation involves brutal torture even to the point of death sometimes. He's unflinching.
In this compilation of cases, Dee investigates three cases composed of four murders. His time is valuable, so he cuts right to the heart of each situation, often working on multiple cases simultaneously. 'The Double Murder at Dawn' features a couple dead merchants found outside the village gates who turn out to be the random victims of hatred and xenophobia. While working this case, Dee stumbles across 'The Strange Corpse' which involves deeply buried family secrets which drive a widow to feel no emotions at all and her daughter to become mute and possibly deaf. In 'The Poisoned Bride' Dee is forced to deal with social class among the local aristocracy to solve the murder of a bride on her wedding night, all the while teaching the prudish father that he's still subject to the rule of law.
Compared to western detective novels, this Chinese contemporary bears some unique features. Some common tropes which are mildly indulged in this book include testimony of the supernatural, a multitude of characters, graphic violence, and a healthy class struggle. Although Dee comports himself with the full severity of his occupation, he is not afraid to get himself into trouble while investigating a case. He seems to indulge in a little bit of narcissism when it comes to the consequences of his actions. After all, he solves a case after claiming to meet a ghost who tells him who the murderer is. Overall his investigative methods are intriguing and effective because he successfully tracks down all of the perpetrators and administers the full measure of justice.
So who is Judge Dee? In The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An) by an anonymous author and translated by Robert Hans Van Gulik, we begin to learn about him. The preface of this book discusses the characteristics of Chinese detective stories, a brief overview and analysis of Chinese law, and the background for more studies. As it turns out, Judge Dee was a real person, a famous statesmen and magistrate of the Tang dynasty. In works such as Dee Goong An, Judge Dee solves three murders independently of one another during the same time period. He was famous as a 'detector of crime,' and according to Van Gulik, the Chinese today consider him their 'master detective,' as popular as Sherlock Holmes is to us.
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. Author: Robert Hans van Gulik. Publisher: Courier Corporation. Tells of a celebrated seventh-century Chinese magistrate's investigation of a double murder among traveling merchants, the fatal poisoning of a bride on her wedding night, and a murder in a small town. Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee: An Authentic Eighteenth-Century Chinese Detective Novel (Library) Yuri Rasovsky, Mark Bramhall, Lorna Raver, Stefan Rudnicki, Robert van Gulik on Amazon.com.FREE. shipping on qualifying offers. The first book that author Robert translated also featured Judge Dee’s character and it became the first book of this series too. It was released in 1949 under the title of ‘Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee’. Judge Dee was developed by author Robert in the form of a semi fictional character. Dee and associates solve 3 interlocked cases: The Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, The Case of the Strange Corpse, and The Case of the Poisoned Bride. Publisher Marketing: Lone of the most celebrated historical magistrates was Judge Dee, who lived in the seventh century A.D.
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Robert Hans Van Gulik took this historical figure, Judge Dee, and wrote fiction in the Chinese detective style with Judge Dee as the main character. Van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat and scholar of 'things Chinese,' used data and incidents from old crime literature that he had translated. Reading this series of books, one will learn about the history of China during that period, Chinese law and procedure (including torture and punishment), Chinese society in general, and see illustrations interspersed throughout the books done as if from Chinese woodcuts and classical drawings. In the colophon of one of the books, Van Gulik states that 'in Judge Dee's time the Chinese wore no pig-tails... Men did their long hair up in a topknot, wore caps both inside and outside the house. They didn’t smoke tobacco and opium, which were introduced into China only many centuries later.' A few book titles include: The Lacquer Screen, The Chinese Lake Murders, The Chinese Bell Murder, and The Emperor's Pearl. They can be read independently of each other; however, the challenge is to find and read the entire 15-book series. (I have 12.) Finding them can occur only when you discover which book has the chronology in it. In fact I'll tell you. it's in Judge Dee at Work. Then you can read them in their historical order. A clue: I did not find all the books in one place or part of the country. They are thin paperbacks, sometimes concentrating on one case; others have a couple of stories within one book.
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The books follow a similar pattern — the crime is committed and the reader then follows Judge Dee and his assistants as they discover how it was done and by whom. This is light and pleasurable reading. You will not be held in breathtaking suspense, but you will find yourself listening in on intriguing conversations. You'll be surprised how easily you have been taken back. Let's listen in on Judge Dee: 'I have learned from this case how important it is to study carefully our ancient handbooks of detection, Hoong. There it is stated again and again that the first step of a murder investigation is to ascertain the character, daily life and habits of the victim. And in this case it was indeed the murdered man's personality that supplied the key.'