Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Detective Stories): Amazon.co.uk: Robert Van Gulik: Books

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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.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting Chinese mystery story, 30 April 1997

By A Customer

This book is a translation of an actual Chinese mystery novel from the 1700s. It offers a very interesting look at Chinese culture from the time of the Manchu Empire. The writer, an expert on the language went on to write a number of other stories all using the same character (Judge Dee) but with his own ideas for the plots. I recomend them as well. -- Colin Glassey

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Detective Novel, 18 Nov 2007

By	Zadius Sky - See all my reviews

During the later years of the Second World War, Robert Van Gulik translated an interesting and a unique detective novel entitled "Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An)," which was written by an anonymous author in the eighteenth century. The novel drives the readers to experience three mystery crime cases of Judge Dee, an important district magistrate in the ancient Chinese culture during the seventh century. There are three crimes that were solved during the course of the detective novel, which were the case of "The Double Murder at Dawn," the case of "The Strange Corpse," and the case of "The Poisoned Bride." The investigations of the cases in the book were carried out by Judge Dee himself; he later solved those crimes throughout the novel.

There are thirty chapters in the novel with the addition of the "Translator's Preface," which the translator pointed out the difference between the Western and Chinese novels, described the five main characteristics of Chinese detective stories, gave a historical background of a Chinese detective novel, "Dee Goong An," and its three mystery cases, and he discussed the history of a pre-modern Chinese judicial system and a real-life Judge Dee of seventh century. In addition to the book, there is a short "Interlude" section between the fifteenth and the sixteenth chapters where it is written as a single scene of a theatrical play in which the readers have to use their minds to figure out which characters of the novel that the actors represented based on their psychological analysis (p. VI-VII). Throughout Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, one can understand a pre-modern Chinese judicial system in the seventh century by looking at how did Judge Dee approached three murder cases, how did he solve these cases, and what were the outcomes.

"Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee" explores three murder cases of Judge Dee in the seventh century China. In the novel, Judge Dee solved the murder cases independently from one another during the corresponding time period. But the cases did not come to the judge at the same time. The first case called "The Double Murder At Dawn" came to Judge Dee just before the convening tribunal when an old man by the name of Koong Wan-deh approached the judge with a case of the murders of two silk merchants. Judge Dee approached this first case with a careful investigation as he had followed the strict Chinese code. However, there were rising complications because the judge could not quickly solve the case because he did not find a real criminal. The second case, "The Strange Corpse," did not come to Judge Dee because the murder had occurred a year earlier. He came across it when he was disguised as a physician in a home of the widow with her "dumb" daughter and her mother-in-law. Because of the little girl who had "lost the power of speech," Judge Dee became suspicious of the situation with the widow and her daughter, and he soon made it a case to investigate them (p. 34-41). Judge Dee approached this second case with a discreet and a careful investigation and the help of his trusted lieutenants. The final case called "The Poisoned Bride" came to Judge Dee after the murderer of the first case was caught. This case Judge Dee approached with careful and prudent attention because the murder occurred in a high status household during a wedding ceremony. In each of these three cases, Judge Dee used his complex tactics of harsh accusation, threats, and tortures as means to achieve the solution of his murder cases.

Unlike the judges of the modern era, the judges of the pre-modern China acted as detectives and investigators to solve the crimes. It is very rare for a judge of modern times to go out either in disguise or use his official status to find clues for the murder and to catch criminals. Then again, the novel of "Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee" revealed the actions of the judge of ancient times. According to the translator Robert Van Gulik, "it was in his function of judge that the district magistrate displayed his talents as a detective" (p. IX). With three murder cases in the book, Judge Dee solved them like a skilled detective would, but he had an advantage to which he had resources in his investigations, not available for the modern-day detective, which included a small number of trusted lieutenants and constables, the use of torture, the influence of the local authorities, and the guidance of dreams and ghosts.

The outcome of these three cases had doomed the lives of the criminals and favored the career of Judge Dee, which was evident in the final chapter of the novel. Obviously in the end, Judge Dee was very pleased with his judicial and detective work. While the duties of a judge and a detective were not yet separated, it would have appeared that they were the most important duties in a pre-modern Chinese judicial system during the seventh century.

By looking at how did Judge Dee approached three murder cases, how he solved these cases, and what were the outcomes in the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, a pre-modern Chinese judicial system of the seventh century is understood. The novel drives the reader to understand how the detective-like duties of a pre-modern judge in seventh century China helped an important figure like Judge Dee to solve crimes in his district. As shown in the book, one can observe that the actions of the judge had interesting qualities in such a way that not any modern judge could do. The novel explored three murder cases of Judge Dee and the usefulness of his detective skills led him to solve the tricky as well as the dangerous crimes.

The murder cases of Judge Dee and his adventures in Robert Van Gulik's translation of "Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee" were a great read and an interesting perspective of judicial court and a pre-modern Chinese culture during the seventh century.

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Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Detective Stories) (Paperback)

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