Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An)

For the reader that enjoys detective books this is a must- especially if he/she prefers an historical context. Robert van Gulik, a diplomat familiar with oriental culture writes with talent and methodically- for a good detective story to be developed it is required. The only critisism that one might say is that there are some anchronisms as faras the chinese culture but they do not affect the stories. The Judge is a very intersting person that the reader sympathises with. Enjoy it.

This book and the fiction that Mr. Van Gulik wrote after 1945 are definitely not your run of the mill detective stories. The author, trained and serving as a diplomat in the orient, has a profound knowledge of Tang Dynasty China, its customs and traditions. My wife and I began reading them almost thirty years ago, a still "binge" every five years or so on the series. Van Gulik used Dee Goong An as, I suspect, a vehicle for his diplomatic training and deeper understanding of the Chinese. The man writes in a scholarly, traditional, and slightly pedantic style that in no way obscures the charm of his subject. As a contemporary review observed all of the "frail beauty and cruelty of the Tang's" are preserved. You must understand this, because Van Gulik attempts to recreate the genre accurately. This is notable due to the idiosyncrasies of our western detective mystery style, and the vast differences with their Asian peers. Fair to note that Mr. Van Gulik was a noted sinophile, and lived and died there. The preface and appendices are worth re-reading and the stage is then set for the rest of the series. Try to read this one (Dee Goong An) first! These are as follows: 1950 Chinese Bell Murders 668 AD 1952 Chinese Maze Murders 670 AD 1959 Chinese Gold Murders 663 AD 1960 Chinese Lake Murders 666 AD 1961 Chinese Nail Murders 676 AD 1962 Lacquer Screen 663 AD 1963 The Emperor's Perl 668 AD 1964 The Red Pavilion 668 AD 1965 The Monkey and the Tiger 666 AD 1965 The Willow Pattern 677 AD 1966 Phantom of the Temple 670 AD 1966 Murder in Canton 681 AD 1967 Judge Dee at Work 663 - 670 1967 Necklas and Calabash 668 AD 1968 Poets and Murder 668 AD As with any serial literary undertaking not all of these books are of the same quality as Dee Goong An. Yet they are all worth reading again and again.

This book is a novel based on an actual character, Judge Dee, a Chinese magistrate who lived around 700 A.D. and whose job responsibilities involved solving local crimes. The Chinese detective story is different from what we are used to in that we know right off the bat whodunit; the fun is in watching the criminal be tracked down and caught. The three crimes in this novel, none of which are connected to each other, include a hardened criminal who robs and kills two merchants; an adulterous woman who murders her husband to live with her young lover, and a young student suspected of killing his bride on their wedding night. Aided by four trusty henchmen -- two reformed highwaymen, an old family servant, and an erstwhile con-man, Judge Dee unravels the tangled clues until he brings all the perpetrators to justice. Van Gulik shows us, in his excellent translation, that the ancient Chinese justice system, although harsh, was fair to all, and that no one was exempt from deserved punishment whatever their age, rank or gender. This book is a lot of fun for anyone who is interested in things Chinese, or who just enjoys a good, well-written detective story.

Slightly different than the purly fictional Judge Dee novels that came after this. Judge Dee appears more fallable in these cases than in later novels and the various personalities seem to have a bit more depth, perhaps due to the fact that this work purports to represent actual historical events. In other words, you can just notice the difference between Van Gulik the translator and Van Gulik the author.

The three cases which Judge Dee solves are the definite center of this novel. Readers searching for in depth character analysis will be disappointed. However, those who enjoy the "Dragnet" approach to mystery will enjoy this novel as well. The cases are fascinating, and Judge Dee's approach to solving the crimes is a nice change to the standard western mystery.