The Haunted Monastery and the Chinese Maze Murders: Two Chinese Detective Novels, With 27 Illustrations by the Author

Judge Dee #7 & 2

by Robert van Gulik

Two full novels by Orientalist and diplomat Robert van Gulik recount the further fictional adventures of the renowned Judge Dee, a real-life magistrate and statesman of seventh-century T'ang China. Accurate in their background and thrillingly imaginative and original in their storytelling, van Gulik's novels abound in atmospheric entertainment. 27 illustrations.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature, China, Detective, Historical

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Robert Hans van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat best known for his Judge Dee stories. His first published book, The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, was a translation of an eighteenth-century Chinese murder mystery by an unknown author; he went on to write new mysteries for Judge Dee, a character based on a historical figure from the seventh century. He also wrote academic books, mostly on Chinese history.

Reviews

[Roshni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, the mysteries are convoluted, but Judge Dee's keen intellect unwinds them expertly. The unique setting makes it all the more entertaining.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of Judge Dee mysteries I have read. The cases were both interesting and complex. Murder and mayhem abound in a far flung District on the border with the Uigur tribes. On arriving at his new post, Judge Dee discovers the town in disarray with a local gang leader actually running the town with the former magistrate unwilling to confront him and bring justice. It falls to Judge Dee to return the town to law and order, solving several other crimes along the way.

[Nd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved The Haunted Monastery. Judge Dee, his three wives, his aide Tao Gan, and two coachmen were returning to Han-yuan from a holiday in the capital. They expected to reach home by nightfall, but as they drove through the high mountains in strong winds and pouring rain, an axle broke. Judge Dee, magistrate of the district, sent the coachmen to the only inhabited place in the area, the old Morning Cloud Monastery higher up the mountain. A dozen lay brothers with closed litters carried the wives and luggage. The group expected to have a quick bite, sleep, and head home with a repaired axle the following day. As Judge Dee arrived in his quarters, in the window across from his, he saw what looked like a strangely dressed man maiming a woman only to be told when he inquired that there was no window where he had been looking. There also was an issue of three young women having died at the monastery in the last year, as well as the rumors of the place being haunted. Multiple mysteries crop up as Judge Dee expertly unravels the strange goings on.

In the Chinese Maze Murders, the storyteller tells how he came across in a restaurant an old man who was a descendent of Judge Dee. The old man explained how vexing it was when people learned of his ancestry and how annoying it was for him to overhear bizarre and spurious tales about Dee Jen-djieh's (Judge Dee's) career when his family had passed down the truthful account from generation to generation. He was persuaded of the storyteller's genuine interest and agreed to relate some of the accurate investigations. Somehow, as the stories went on and on, the listener drifted to sleep and found himself alone when he woke up. Thus the Chinese Maze Murders becomes something of a maze itself as several overlapping stories.

Judge Dee, his seargeant, lieutenants, family, and servants undertook an arduous journey for him to take up his position replacing the magistrate in an outlying district, Lan-fang. They were attacked by ruffians as they neared; but far from being overtaken, they prevailed, tied up the attackers, and brought them along to Lan-fang. The previous magistrate had fled the village, having made no preparations for Judge Dee's arrival, and the village seemed deserted. As Dee investigated, he learned that because it was so far away from the capital and was no longer on the main travel route, someone named Chien had usurped power over Lan-fang and considered himself magistrate, judge, and military commander. He either ran off those who were appointed to those positions or they acquiesced to his power and accepted bribes to do so. Judge Dee began to do his job of solving crimes and taking his place as magistrate, and a number of mysteries arose. At some point they began to overlap.

I really enjoyed this book. However, if I were to read another of these tales, I would keep my own list of the characters (more than the one included in the book) so I would be sure to keep them straight and not have to keep looking back as I did toward the end.

[Denis Mcgrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Chinese Detective story formula is a specific gendre in which the local magistrate performs the role of detective with the supportive staff of his tribunal. Dr. Van Gulik former diplomat and Orientalist has adapted this format for the Western audience using Inspector Dee as his protagonist. Dee was a real character in Chinese history and Van Gulik has sifted through historical resources to give us a picture of ancient Chinese court protocol along with some nail biting mysteries. Both the Haunted Monastery and the Chinese Maze Murders will give the reader a good introduction to this literary form as well as entertain with a variety of characters, some good and some very bad who meet the justice of the court and the horrendous execution of evil doers.

[Emily]

Wow, I had forgotten how hard it could be to read these novels that try to mimic attitudes that are so different from what holds sway in the social context where I’m reading them. I find it really interesting to get a window on a society I don’t otherwise know much about, but it’s both sobering to see how different our frameworks are for navigating the world and off-putting to see some traces of a colonial mindset from the modern, European-born author.

[Sae-chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chinese Maze Murders turned out to be the first book of Judge Dee series. Seemed that Mr. van Gulik obsession with Chinese girls with bare breast started from very the beginning :-)

Can I count this book as two? I'm so far behind my reading challenge this year...

[Alison Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, these Judge Dee Mysteries are so good! Loved both stories.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first novella -- The Haunted Monastery -- held little interest for me, and I only enjoyed the sense of Judge Dee being stranded in a Taoist temple in the mountains with only his one sidekick and his three wives. Usually in most of his novels, Judge Dee is too busy solving crimes, but here there are one or two scenes with his wives which softens his character. The book also thematically dealt with the differences between Confucianism and Taoism, and to a lesser degree, Buddhism. The second novel -- The Chinese Maze Murders -- must be one of the best Judge Dee books I've read. Besides the usual three cases he has to solve, in this instance he must restore order to the boarder town he has been assigned to, foil a Khan-led plot to siege the empire, and also discover the murderer of the previous magistrate. However, I was enamored, more than I usually am, by the material richness of the narrative; attention to flowers, strange creatures, architecture, calligraphy, painting, and poetry all figure in to the mysteries themselves and their solutions. Plus the themes are many -- besides the reprised theme of the differences between Confucianism and Taoism, the story strikes upon attitudes concerning Chinese vs. "barbarian" cultures, principals of ethical/moral leadership (and their failings), as well as frank and explicit narrative concerning torture, sapphism, sex, and views of women. Moreover, the book meanders between the bravado of a western tale of implementing justice, and the dark, self-doubting sensibility of a noir. Robert Van Gulik even places an ingenious dues ex machina in the form a Taoist recluse living in the mountains, and in the end, the greatest mystery is the one Judge Dee must solve for himself, the implication of the lines:

There are but two roads that lead to the gate of Eternal Life:
Either one bores his head in the mud like a worm
or like a dragon flies up high into the sky.

[Helmut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Von Fall zu Fall

Diese Zusammenstellung zweier geheimnisvoller Fälle des Richter Di (deutsche Ausgaben davon sind Nächtlicher Spuk Im Mönchskloster und Mord Im Labyrinth) stellt eine kostengünstige Möglichkeit dar, einen ersten Kontakt mit dem unbestechlichen und gnadenlosen Richter des alten China herzustellen. Details über die beiden Romane sind in obigen Rezensionen zu finden; daher hier noch ein paar Anmerkungen zur Textpräsentation dieser speziellen Ausgabe.

Die beiden Romane, von denen der erste ca. 1/3 des Platzes und der zweite den Rest einnimmt, sind etwas kunstlos aneinander geklebt. Die Illustrationen des Autors sind sehr gut ganzseitig wiedergegeben, bei schwarzweiß-Strichzeichnungen ist das aber auch nicht schwer. Papier-, Einband- und Bindungsqualität sind für ein Taschenbuch gehobener Durchschnitt.

Persönlich gefallen mir die Titelillustrationen der "University of Chicago Press"-Ausgaben viel besser, aber man soll ein Buch ja nicht nach dem Cover beurteilen.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The two works in this volume are from the Judge Dee series. The first of the series (which I don't think I've read) is a translation of a traditional Chinese mystery (they had them way before the English), but the rest of the stories are reformulations using traditional elements and/or plots from early Chinese works refitted to the Judge Dee character. The author provides a short essay on sources and cultural/stylistic elements. Overall, engaging writing, interesting plot, and believable characters. Judge Dee, in particular, is very much a man of his time, with a strong sense of Confucian-style propriety and unconscious acceptance of cultural norms of his day (unlike many figures in historical detection, who often seem to be the only ones in their time and place to have acquired a modern western social and scientific sensibility) but becoming some sort of specimen or exhibit for westerners to gawk at. The charm of the novels is that Robert van Gulik knows and loves this traditional Chinese genre and seeks only to translate that into something that he can share with those who lack his background in Chinese language and culture.

[William Bibliomane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I've been aware of the Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee mysteries for more than twenty years, this book was the first time that I've gotten round to actually reading any, and they do not disappoint. Van Gulik's stories and evocation of setting conjure a lost time with a curious vividity, and although the world is strange to me in some ways, it does that thing that all of the best fiction does: it remains in my memory after I've finished reading, and makes me want to read and learn more about the time in which it is set. Surprisingly modern in tone, both The Haunted Monastery and The Chinese Maze Murders are full of intrigue, suspense, and some genuine shocks. Modern, cynical readers will not be disappointed in this -- probably slightly caricatured -- view of the Chinese past, nor in Van Gulik's skillful observation as an Orientalist.

Full review to follow.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of mystery and intrigue, even if the style is a bit dry (you might barely notice how sensational some of these crimes are). judge dee is wise and compassionate, although I think van gulik does a good job of not compromising historical details in order to accommodate a modern audience (the brutality of the punishments, the use of torture etc). there are lots of nice cultural details, and it's interesting just to see what people are doing, wearing, eating etc. as well as to find out who's behind the crimes. I especially like how several different threads are all tangled up and slowly come unraveled.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were first published separately in 1961 and 1951 respectively, but then repackaged and reprinted together in 1977.

I read a few of these books shortly after moving to Taiwan in the late 70's. China finally started doing some big budget film versions with Andy Lau just a few years ago (for some reason renamed "Detective Dee"); entertaining, but a bit heavy on the supernatural over the crime-solving - more Ghostbusters than Sherlock Holmes. Still, nice to see him enjoying a resurgence.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who'd a thunk that 6th century daily life in a far-flung chinese province could be so weird and wild and wonderful.

I recommend for Twin Peaks fans.

Hint - take another look at that picture of the cat the old abbott painted just hours before he died...

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting and well written.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately the murders were pretty predictable. I liked it anyway, very informative on Chinese life and religion.

[K环 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unpredictable and set against a very interesting historical background, these stories bring an understanding how very older the Chinese genre of detective is than its western analogue.

[JB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories - 1 short and one a bit longer. I enjoyed the change of place and time period from my normal reading. The mysteries were ok.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love judge deed, unlike a lot of historical detective story writers, van gulik didn't saddle his characters with anachronistic , political lay correct mindsets. Gives them a touch of authenticity

[C3wach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just action.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his books. Page turners until after the midnight hour.