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Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee ( Chinese:狄公案 Pinyin: dí gōng àn , lit. "Cases of Judge Dee") is an 18th century Chinese detective novel. It is loosely based on the adventures of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. Robert van Gulik (August 9, 1910 - September 24, 1967) was a highly educated orientalist, diplomat and writer, best known for the Judge Dee mysteries. ...
Judge Dee (or Judge Di) is the hero of Robert van Guliks Judge Dee series. ...
Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ...
Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ...
A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ...
Dover Publications is a book publisher founded in 1941. ...
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Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ...
(17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...
Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ...
Judge Dee (or Judge Di) is the hero of Robert van Guliks Judge Dee series. ...
Di Renjie (ç‹„ä»å‚‘) (630 - 700) was a Chinese official famous for opposing corrupt that twice served as the Chancellor of Tang China. ...
A magistrate is a judicial officer. ...
Statesman is a respectful term used to refer to politicians, and other notable figures of state. ...
For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ...
Events Muhammad captures Mecca (January). ...
// Events Saint Adamnan convinces 51 kings to adopt Cáin Adomnáin defining the relationship between women and priests. ...
The Dee Goong An was translated by Robert van Gulik into English and used as the basis for his own series of detective novels about Judge Dee after he came across it in a secondhand bookshop in Tokyo. The author wrote that Robert van Gulik (August 9, 1910 - September 24, 1967) was a highly educated orientalist, diplomat and writer, best known for the Judge Dee mysteries. ...
Judge Dee (or Judge Di) is the hero of Robert van Guliks Judge Dee series. ...
For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ...
| “ | This translation is chiefly a product of the Pacific War years, 1941-1945, when constant travel on various war duties made other more complicated Sinological research impossible. | ” | In the preface, van Gulik describes some of the problems (as he saw it) with traditional Chinese murder mysteries. First, the criminal is introduced at the very start of the story and his crime and reasons are carefully explained, so removing any mystery from the story at the start. Second, the stories always have a supernatural element with ghosts telling people about their death and even accusing the criminal. Third, the stories were filled with digressions into philosophy, the complete text of official documents, and much more, making for very long books. Fourth, Chinese novels tended to have a huge cast of characters (200 or more) and these characters are all described by their relation to the various main actors in the story. Lastly, the Chinese writers spent little time on the details of how the crime was committed and great deal of time on describing the torture of the criminals, even going on into their further torments in one of the various hells for the damned.
Van Gulik then goes on to say
| “ | This novel Dee Goong An is offered here in a complete translation. Possibly it would have had a wider appeal if it had been entirely re-written in a form more familiar to our readers. | ” | This is exactly what Robert van Gulik did over the next 20 years, as he created his Judge Dee series. For the books based on the semi-fictional detective Judge Dee see: Judge Dee. Judge Dee (or Judge Di) is the hero of Robert van Guliks Judge Dee series. ...
The original Chinese novel contains cultural elements from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) rather than Tang Dynasty China, which may have been done deliberately or from ignorance about Tang-era China. For other uses, see Ming. ...
The book features nine drawings, three copies from old Chinese art, and six illustrations by the author.
Plot introduction There are three cases in this book. The first might be called "The Double Murder at Dawn". The case describes the hazardous life of the traveling silk merchant and the murder which is committed to gain wealth.
The second is The Strange Corpse which takes place in a small village, a crime of passion which proves hard to solve. The criminal is a very determined woman.
The third case The Poisoned Bride contains the murder of the daughter of a local scholar who marries the son of the former administrator of the district. This case contains a surprising twist in its solution.
All three cases are solved by Judge Dee, the district magistrate - Detective, prosecutor, judge, and jury all wrapped up into one person.
Literary significance and criticism "Dee Goong An is the genuine article, dating from the 18th century and barely modified by the translator to make it intelligible today. Like his modern fictions, it adroitly intertwines three plots and shows the judge and his aides in their now familiar guise. The introduction and notes (including Chinese ideograms for the skeptical) are as entertaining as the tale, once the reader has become a Dee-votee."[1]
References - ^ Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8
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