Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee: An Authentic Eighteenth-Century Chinese Detective Novel

Judge Dee #1

by Robert van Gulik (Translator), Yuri Rasovsky (Editor), Mark Bramhall (Narrator)

This early Chinese detective story follows the celebrated Judge Dee as he tries to solve three baffling cases. His work takes him up and down the great silk routes and into ancient graveyards, where he consults the spirits of the dead.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, China, Crime, Historical, Classics

1 pages, CD-ROM

First published January 1, 1949

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

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first Judge Dee novel ( a historical figure, Di Renjie, A.D. 630-700, during the Tang Dynasty, who later became the powerful chancellor of the nation, at the Imperial Court) , is a translation of a 18th century Chinese detective book by Dutch scholar, Robert van Gulik written anonymously back then as now, this kind of product wasn't taken seriously............ The magistrate Judge Dee ( "father to the people") for three years in the small, rural , usually quiet city of Chang-ping, China, mostly routine business for the judge but becoming famous even in the nation's capital, for his great ability to solve crimes. With the help of four trusted Lieutenants Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, the muscles of the extremely able group, former hardened with a lot of experience in bad behavior plain common criminals, highwaymen," brothers of the green woods"; Tao Gan an ex -confidence man he knows all the deceptive tricks he did them, reformed like the others by Dee and Sergeant Hoong Liang the brains an old, honest family retainer chief of the constables, he can speak frankly to his employer and give advise. Three baffling murder cases occur, at the same time, and the judge needs to bring the perpetrators to justice or his career will be in jeopardy , two silk merchants are slain their property stolen in a nearby village after leaving a hostel, no witnesses in the dawn, grisly, street crime and later one of the victims can't be identified, as the silk merchant seen... a complete stranger... the second case a healthy, young, poor shopkeeper of wool Mr. Bee Hsun dies of apparent natural causes a year before, but Dee discovers some interesting information, a sinister spirit at night haunts his lonely tomb he is suspicious of the beautiful, bright, widow Mrs. Bee, nee` Djou, after ordering an autopsy no foul play is found... he the wily judge is in trouble...the perplexed magistrate spends the night alone in a city temple meditating... falls asleep and obtains a clue from a weird dream... the third mystery a pretty teenage bride 19, on her wedding night succumbs, obviously by poison her ghastly face indicates this, Miss Lee from a prominent family as is the groom Hua Wen-djun , the distraught new husband is devastated, suspicions falls on Hoo Dso-bin a Candidate of Literature and classmate of the grieving widower, he had acted very inappropriately at the nuptial banquet...still the magistrate is not so sure, playing the fool is that the sane way for a murderer to behave.... Another fascinating voyage back into an ancient era the culture and traditions, that modern audiences can never quite fully understand yet will be intrigued by the partial lifting of the shadows , a terrific novel....Before ending this I must make a confession which might skew this entire review, I like to drink hot tea and eat cake just like the characters in these stories, while reading the delightful and unique Judge Dee mysteries, now that my conscience is cleared my friends I thank you for your indulgence.

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

One aspect of books and reading that I don’t often consider is the extent to which storytelling is a cultural form, often arising out of long-standing tradition. Modern American writing has such an emphasis on telling a good story as well as innovation in characterization and world-building that I forget about traditional forms. The manuscript of Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is the product of an extensive tradition in Chinese detective storytelling. It was discovered by a Westerner in the 1900s, then translated and published again in 1949. In the translator’s Preface, Van Gulik discusses the background of Chinese detective fiction, transitioning into novel form in the 1600s and reaching their most sophisticated forms in the 18th and 19th centuries. Interestingly, although the author is clearly extremely literate and familiar with Chinese law, he remains anonymous due to the cultural consideration of the detective novel being a ‘frivolous’ form of literature.

***********************************************

Since Goodreads hasn't clarified whether users should abide by the 2010 Terms of Service listed on site, or by Kara and Emily's comments in the Feedback Group threads, I'm keeping full copies of my reviews at:

http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/1...
AND
at Booklikes http://carols.booklikes.com/post/7394...

[Steve]

A detective novel by an anonymous 18th century Chinese author

The Dutch diplomat, orientalist and author Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) translated Dee Goong An (Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee) into English and had it published in Tokyo in 1949. The original Chinese text was written some time in the 18th century and was published anonymously, hence it was written by a literatus/scholar who would have been embarrassed to have his peers know that he had composed such a work, since they generally viewed fiction as useless, even damaging to the proper mindset of the people. In an informative preface van Gulik tells us that the Chinese have a thousand year old tradition of detective stories which differs in significant ways from the one developed in the modern Occident, including such conventions as the announcement of the guilty early in the text and a detailed accounting of the condemned criminal's punishment - often even their subsequent punishment in Hell is related to satisfy the reader's sense of justice (and possibly other desires). Also, the supernatural is allowed to play a significant role in such stories. Van Gulik chose Dee Goong An because it most closely conformed with Western expectations of the genre. Nonetheless, the typical genre reader will likely be shocked and disappointed by this book.

However, I am not reading this book as a representative of a well established Occidental genre but as an exemplar of a Chinese tradition. After reading wonderful classic Chinese poetry for years, recently I have been exploring classic Chinese prose, both fiction and nonfiction. And this text, though no masterpiece, is enjoyable and interesting.

According to van Gulik, the central figures in the Chinese detective tradition are the district magistrates, powerful local administrators who along with their administrative duties must also serve as investigators and judges in local criminal cases. In this text the magistrate is Dee Jen-djieh (Di Renjie), who was a prominent magistrate and high official during the second half of the 7th century. Though the book was written a thousand years later, van Gulik informs us that the Chinese justice system had not changed, indeed, did not change until the early 20th century. Reading this book provides one with lively insight into a tradition of justice which was an important part of Chinese culture at least since the T'ang dynasty. In this tradition there is no conviction without a confession, and an often employed tool of this justice system was the beating and torture of suspects and recalcitrant witnesses, though van Gulik explains that there were checks built into the system which assured that extreme abuse of such means was minimized.(*)

The story itself is excellent, with the intrepid Judge Dee solving four murders with the help of his loyal assistants and a few honest citizens. The settings are clearly evoked, the action is involving, and there is suspense even though one knows the culprits quite early on, because it is not at all clear how the Judge will overcome the ruses and resistance of the suspects. For, as powerful as he may be locally, there really are checks and balances in the system, both formal and informal, and the anonymous author makes them clear to us. At one point the Judge risks his own head in the face of these checks for the sake of justice. And, on the side, one learns no small amount about the lives of ordinary Chinese people. Entertaining and informative, but only for the strong of stomach!

Van Gulik subsequently wrote a successful series of mysteries with the same Judge Dee as protagonist. I may have to look into that, because I have a weakness for mysteries set in foreign lands...

(*) Remarkably, none of the instances of torture in this book produced information useful for the resolution of the cases. It's sole useful purpose was to force the most stubborn of criminals to confess to their crimes after overwhelming evidence against them had been accumulated. Was the author making a subversive point?

Rating

http://leopard.booklikes.com/post/796...

[. . . _ _ _ . . . · Rating 2 out of 5]

Απορώ που αυτό το Ται-Τσι Κινέζικης Αστυνομικής Λογοτεχνίας με κάτι από Δικαστικό Δράμα και μαθήματα Κινέζικης Ποινικής Δικονομίας παίρνει καλά ριβιουζ. ΟΚ, αν εξαιρέσουμε τον εξαιρετικό πρόλογο, και την δουλειά που έγινε σε χειρόγραφο του 18ου αιώνα για μια ιστορία που διαδραματίζεται το 677 μ.Χ στη μεσαιωνική Κίνα, για τα σύγχρονα μάτια ο Δικαστής/Εισαγγελέας/Ανακριτής/Διοικητής της Αστυνομίας/Τοπικός Αξιωματούχος μαζί με τους πιστούς του Αστυνόμους (πρώην κλέφτες, ούτε Σχολή Αστυφυλάκων ούτε τίποτα, τους παίρνει μάλιστα μαζί τους στις μεταθέσεις !) φαίνεται λίγο αστείος.
Τι να πεις δηλαδή ότι σύμφωνα με την Κινέζικη Ποινική Δικονομία σου λέει ότι για την καταδίκη πρέπει να υπάρχει ομολογία του ενόχου (!) και επιτρέπονται τα βασανιστήρια (!) αλλά αν κριθεί αθώος ο κατηγορούμενος και πεθάνει πάνω στα βασανιστήρια επισύρει την ποινή του Δικαστή και τον θάνατο των Γραμματέων του Δικαστηρίου ;
Επίσης, έντονα μεταφυσικά στοιχεία (αλλά λιγότερο έντονα σε σχέση με άλλα παραδοσιακά κινέζικα διηγήματα σύμφωνα με τον πρόλογο) που ο Δικαστής Τι βλέπει την λύση του εγκλήματος στον ΥΠΝΟ ΤΟΥ.
Απόσπαση ομολογίας με βασανιστήρια και όνειρα με την λύση του εγκλήματος, έτσι ξέρω κι εγώ ρε μεγάλε.
Σουρεάλ σκηνές με τον Δικαστή Τι να γυρνάει την επαρχία και να αναζητάει την λύση του εγκλήματος πίνοντας κουβάδες τσάι, μένει παντού τσαμπέ, τον ταίζουν πιλάφια, μεταμφιεσμένος σε γιατρό ο ίδιος όταν το παίζει ασφαλίτης, και φανταστικές σκηνές νεκροτομής του θύματος από τον Κινέζο Ιατροδικαστή ΤουΝε Κρου μπροστά σε πλήθος (!) που παρακολουθεί με κομμένη την ανάσα
Στο τέλος τα βασανιστήρια πιάσανε τόπο, ο Δικαστής έπαιξε την καριέρα του, αλλά οι κακοί είναι στη φυλακή εκτελούνται (εφέσεις και μαλακίες : σου λέει το Ανώτατο Κινέζικο Δικαστήριο αποφασίζει επί της σκληρότητας της εκτέλεσης της ποινής (!) ή κάτι τέτοιο και όχι επί της ενοχής)
Ο Δικαστής Τι γίνεται Εφέτης ή κάτι τέτοιο και παίρνει μετάθεση στην μεγάλη πόλη σε κλίμα συγκίνησης
ΥΓ : γιατί ο Δικαστής Dee έγινε στην ελληνική μετάφραση Δικαστής Τι ;
Επειδή ρωτούσε ΤΙ ΤΙ Ε ΤΙ ΤΙ ΤΙ ΤΙ Ε ΤΙ ΤΙ

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pat of my Summer 2018 Easy Reading Vibe – As a first Ive decided this year to aim for shorter or “light” reading to get me through the months where historically my reading has tailed off.

A book i’d managed to track down & purchase a while ago & a perfect excuse to kick off my summer reading with a short teccie story or three (there are 3 stories according to the notes)...... well the beginning was quite bizarre as the Preface by the author went ON and ON and ON to a little over 40 pages in the end..... where he even started to tell parts of the story that were to follow...... it had me thinking is the style of storytelling in the East? To give it all away at the beginning?? I stopped after 6 pages & jumped ahead to then find each chapter detailed out in note form..... I too skipped that & now at around 50 pages in looked desperately for a story........!

Phew..... finally Judge Dee appears in the narrative & there’s dialogue..... we must be at the first story proper!

The story “proper” is very simple, with extremely short dialogue scenes, populated by narrative where the characterisation of the players is really quite minimal & the story (the murders(s) to be solved) the main focus. It’s quite alright for a short summer read which isn’t overtly taxing. You’ll get very little historical detail here or dialogue & the stories are wrapped up quite neatly. For all the splendour (costume) you’ll have to watch one of the films..... I believe there are a few produced now..... as there is no historical fiction to speak off although a lot of time is spent on the use of torture & obtaining confessions in the age. The crimes/mysteries run within the same story so there’s not 3 tales per say & all are pursued by the judge in the same timeframe so there’s a little jumping about but all-in-all they fall into line.

Nothing too taxing & perfect for an easy read, 3 stars for me as it does nothing wrong nor is it a series I will continue with. It’s very dated for sure having been first written (18th C) & translated in 1949

[Vanessa Wu · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the heart of this book is a story that involves a lot of bondage, torture, beating, sexual passion, near-nudity and paranormal phenomena.

Yes, as with so many things, the Chinese did paranormal BDSM centuries before the current craze sweeping America.

But, ironically, in this book the paranormal element is somewhat muted, which is the main reason Robert van Gulik thought it might be presentable in translation to Western readers.

I try to learn something practical from every book I read. The thing I learnt from this one is that it's very hard to translate the Chinese word "neiyi" (undergarment), because it's very unspecific even in Chinese.

When the suspect is stripped of all her clothes and left in only an "undergarment", which happens on at least two separate occasions, I really want to know more. Which undergarment? Is it like a shift or is it only a pair of panties? Is it skimpy or conservative? Can you see through it?

Most readers would not want to picture the poor wretch strapped nearly naked to a mechanical device so that she can be beaten and racked. But I'm an erotic novelist. My interest is professional and dispassionate.

The end of the novel, which deals with the executions of all the wrongdoers, is much more explicit. But it's a case of too little too late. Because of the earlier omissions, I'm afraid the text only gets 3 stars from me.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this one 5 stars not because it's the most brilliant detective novel ever, though it is quite compelling and entertaining, but because it's an astounding early-eighteenth-century Chinese detective novel, quite "modern" in lots of ways, that was written more than a century before anything we could call a "detective story" in the West, e.g. Poe's Dupin stories or Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Not only that, but, as translator Robert Hans Van Gulik tells us in his introduction, "short stories about mysterious crimes and their solution have existed in China for over a thousand years, and master-detectives have been celebrated in the tales of the public story teller and in theatrical plays for many centuries. The longer Chinese detective novel started later, about 1600," a form that often ran to a hundred chapters or more in length. This one, the Dee Goong An,, has a pretty "normal" length for a novel of 230 pages or so, but it has significant differences from our typical detective novels. For instance, the detective is a district magistrate (as, apparently, was the case with all the classic Chinese detective novels) with wide-ranging powers, including the right to torture suspects in the courtroom at his discretion. Like Sherlock Holmes, Judge Dee doesn't give all the legwork to his lieutenants and constables but puts on disguises and investigates himself. Van Gulik, a sinologist who lived much of his life in China, translated this work in the 1940s, then went on to write his own fictional versions of Judge Dee mysteries, to the tune of fifteen or so books.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5.

This isn't actually the best place to start with the series, even though GR lists it as the first one.

[Alessia Scurati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dunque: ho letto questo romanzo perché formalmente potrebbe essere considerato il primo della serie del Giudice Dee - del quale ormai sono diventata una grande fan, e continuo ad accumulare eBook finché non completerò tutti e 17 i romanzi.
Non è però un romanzo che fa parte della serie in modo strettamente genetico.
Potrebbe infatti non essere considerato il primo episodio, bensì un prequel di altro autore.
Infatti non è una storia di van Gulik. Van Gulik (l’autore di tutto il resto della serie) qui appare come una sorta di normalizzatore: traduce e dà ordine alle storie tradizionali sul Giudice Dee, personaggio storicamente esistito che è protagonista di alcune ’storielle’ tradizionali cinesi dal quale van Gulik ha preso spunto per poi creare il suo personaggio, che sono in altre parole il corpus che l’autore riscrive tradotto, presentandolo al lettore in questo volume. Insomma: il prequel.
Molto interessante (ancor più se si conosce già la saga) la lunga introduzione di van Gulik, che spiega la genesi del personaggio e alcune peculiari caratteristiche di queste tradizionali storie cinesi - per esempio l’importante elemento soprannaturale, che successivamente non comparirà infatti più, essendo l’autore un occidentale ‘moderno’ che deve rivolgersi a un pubblico del ‘900 che difficilmente avrebbe creduto che un giudice potesse risolvere un caso grazia al fatto che il fantasma del morto gli dà degli indizi o che il nome del colpevole gli appaia in sogno (casistiche invece perfettamente più accettabili nell’epoca e nella cultura in cui i racconti sono nati.
Altra modifica notevole: qui Dee è un giudice non così sagace e soprattutto fa un uso normale della tortura, anche pesante nel suo tribunale (ancora una volta: logico pensarlo nel 600-700 imperiale, meno a metà 1900 in Europa), procedimento che quasi sparisce nel Dee successivo ‘made-in-van Gulik’ , il quale si limita al massimo a punire qualcuno con colpi di bambù - mentre in questo primo episodio si va dalle crocefissioni, argani, cavalletti e garrote (scopro che in italiano si dice garrota, scusate l’ignoranza…).

Tirando le somme: sicuramente è una lettura meno coinvolgente delle successive, che dal punto stilistico sono molto più evolute e ben costruite - il genere noir, del resto, si è molto evoluto da quando vengono partorite le storie tradizionali di Dee a quando il colto van Gulik se ne appropria per farlo diventare il suo protagonista.
È inoltre un po’ spiazzante trovarsi davanti a un personaggio molto diverso da quello che si trova nel resto della serie.
In definitiva, credo sia più utile leggerlo come opera a sé, senza pensarlo come primo capitolo della saga.
Se lo si legge per la saga: se ne può fare tranquillamente a meno, sono molto meglio gli altri - almeno, quelli che ho letto finora.

[DaViD´82 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tento bezvýznamný si nadává do tupé psí hlavy, že tak dlouho ignoroval otce i matku svého života neskonale moudrého soudce Ti.

Ještě než sinolog Gulik rozjel svou vlastní řadu o soudci Ti, tak přeložil autentický dobový čínský detektivní román z 18. století sepsaný pravděpodobně skutečným soudcem té doby o případech slovutného soudce Ti žijícím v 7. století. Doplnil ho zajímavými informacemi o historii čínské detektivky, o rozdílech a specifikách oproti těm západním, popsal čínský právní systém a neopomněl ani úskalí překladu a změny, které se oproti originálu rozhodl udělat a i proč je udělal. To samo o sobě je vše zajímavé, čtivé a ne zcela běžné nahlédnutí pod "spisovatelskou/překladatelskou" pokličku.

Příběhy (resp. tři v jednom) samotné ovšem kvalitou nezahálejí. Není na ně ani třeba koukat smířlivou optikou "je to staré a je tedy vhodné přihmouření oka". Nejzajímavější ovšem je, že ač se neřeší psychologie postav, které pouze plní své role, tak jak moc je to moderní a nikoli nepodobné mnohem mladším Holmesovým případům.

Vtipná je i výzva autorům v doslovu a jak se k ní časem Gulik sám postavil čelem. A se ctí.

[Sahitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more of a 3.5.

This was definitely interesting to listen to, except ofcourse the parts where torturing the accused to elicit confessions is the norm which made me pretty uncomfortable. But Judge Di and his band of detectives are quite fun to follow and see how they might have investigated cases in that era. I wouldn’t mind reading more of Robert van Gulik’s fictional stories of Judge Di, if I can find them.

[Anna Avian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chinese detective fiction is not my cup of tea.

[Yibbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had known that this book had such a wonderful postscript, I would have started there. It’s not that the story was hard to follow, but it explained so many little nuances that it would have been very helpful to have known at the beginning. I really enjoyed learning about Chinese jurisprudence and the traditional Chinese mystery story.
I didn’t find this story as enjoyable as The Chinese Bell Murders and it was for the reason that Van Gulik suspected. The supernatural element was just too convenient to work well for a western audience. Then there was the whole we will torture a confession out of you at all costs. I appreciated it as a look at a completely different culture, but it was almost too grating on my Western sense of justice to be enjoyable.
There were several curse words, an affair is at the heart of one mystery, and the ending is rather graphic.

[Jasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story on its own isn't phenomenal (and indeed the original book was apparently forgotten before Van Gulik translated it), but it's entertaining and interesting. What makes it so interesting is that it provides a window into not just the Chinese tradition of detective novels which is far older than the western, but also into historical Chinese society and culture. And since Judge Dee is apparently a household name in China, also into current-day Chinese popular culture.
Van Gulik provides an extremely necessary introduction and postscript (for newbs like me, anyway), without which a western reader couldn't possibly know what was happening and what was at stake in key moments. Very interesting book.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first started reading the Judge Dee mysteries by Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) back in the 1990s. I discovered them in the Common Reader catalog (alas, no more). They looked different than what I had been reading - British mysteries - so I thought I would give them a try. Different? Definitely an understatement.

Judge Dee was a real person - Di Renjie, Duke Wenhui of Liang, a Chinese official, statesman, and judge who lived from 630 to 700. Robert van Gulik came across an 18th century Chinese mystery novel, "Dee Goong An," that was based on Di Renjie. Van Gulik translated the novel (and edited it for modern tastes) and published it as "Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee." The book was a success and van Gulik turned his hand to writing his own stories about Judge Dee. Though Judge Dee is from the 7th century, the setting is actually the Ming Dynasty (1300-1600).

Of all the books in the series, this one is the roughest, probably because it was actually a translation and not really van Gulik's work. However, it is an excellent mystery and one I have read many times. There are three mysteries for Judge Dee to handle - a double murder involving traveling merchants, the death by poison of a bride on her wedding night, and the mysterious death of a man.

Judge Dee is no armchair detective. He actively investigates crimes, even disguising himself. He is detective, forensic specialist, judge, and jury all rolled up in one. There are no lawyers in this society. Basically, it is up to the magistrate and he will be held accountable if he does something wrong. Dee does make mistakes. He has been known - quite often, really - to suspect an innocent person. However, he is cautious enough to

Judge Dee is assisted in his work by Hoong Liang, sergeant over the constables, and his lieutenants: Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, best friends, and Tao Gan, cynical and sharp-tongued. Hoong Liang was a servant of Dee's family, and is his most trusted adviser. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai are part-warrior and part-rogue, and are my favorite supporting characters in all this. They met Dee when they tried to rob him. However, they were impressed by his bravery and bearing, and chose to serve him instead. Tao Gan is more of a trickster with a very low opinion of humanity. He was originally a swindler and a "runner" for a magistrate. He became so unpopular that he sought refuge with Judge Dee. Dee realized Tao Gan's usefulness and the man became a valued lieutenant.

Judge Dee is appointed magistrate of Chang-Ping and holds a tribunal, where people come to present their grievances to him. The first case he is presented with involves the murder of the two merchants. Koong Wan-deh runs a hostel where the two travelers spend the night and then leave the following morning. Later, Koong is accused by the village warden of robbing and killing the men. The village warden has the men's corpses dragged to Koong's hostel and leaves them in front of the entrance. He demands 500 pieces of silver to hush up the crime. Panicking, Koong flees to Judge Dee's tribunal and presents his case.

The second case involves the mysterious death of Bee Hsun, a merchant. Judge Dee comes across this case accidentally while investigating the previous one. In an attempt to get information on a suspect, he disguises himself as a doctor when he meets Mrs. Bee, Bee Hsun's mother, and learns of her son's mysterious death, not to mention the fact that his young daughter has become mute for an unknown reason. Bee Hsun's widow, Mrs. Djou (her maiden name - to keep from confusing her with her mother-in-law) is extremely arrogant and rude, even when she learns who Judge Dee really is. He immediately suspects foul play, but proving it is another matter.

The third case involves another mysterious death, that of the young bride Lee-goo. The morning after the wedding, she is found dead, covered with blue spots and bleeding from "the seven apertures." Her widowed mother believes Lee-goo was murdered. Some young men who were "testing the newlyweds." This is a custom that involves accompanying the bride and groom to the bridal chamber, and engaging in all kinds of horseplay in an attempt to make the bride blush. They also make the groom drink a large number of toasts. One of the young men, Candidate Hoo, refuses to leave when asked by the groom's father and flies into a violent rage, saying that the old man would be sorry for this. Needless to say, suspicion falls on Hoo when the young bride is found dead, but is he really responsible?

I really enjoyed this book, but if you want to start reading the Judge Dee mysteries, I recommend one of the later ones - "The Haunted Monastery," "The Chinese Maze Murders," "The Monkey and the Tiger," or the short story collection, "Judge Dee at Work." While "Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee" is good, they're more reader-friendly.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Celebrated Cases Of Judge Dee is listed in this edition as translated by Robert van Gulik. It might be better described as translated and edited by , however that might diminish both the original stories and the efforts of scholar and diplomat Van Gulik.

Skimming through the highlights from the very helpful introduction by Von G, there was a real Judge Dee in ancient China. He had a reputation as a crime solver and ended his career as a courtier to the emperor. There was also a series of 18the Century Chinese stories about the Judge’s work being part of a tradition of combination ghost stories and detective stories in China. In the Chinese version judges were believed to be in direct conversation with the spirit world and would receive critical, crime solving information from magical sources. Even with these the judge had to make a case before the general public and in the official reports to his superiors. The reader is further advised that as a district Judge, he was also the prosecutor, the jury and investigator. He also had the power to apply torture, in public as a means of extracting confession and lessor information.

China has a very long history of having a developed civil service-based government bureaucracy. The role of a district judge was very high at the district level if hardly that high in the total system. A judge was expected to solve local crimes and failure to do so could be fatal, to the judge. A major issue within the stories is that Judge Dee accuses a poor, not politically powerful woman of being a murderer. Unless he can prove the charge, he could be made to suffer the death that the woman was facing. In a concurrent case his suspect is a member of a powerful family. The judge, while protesting that the law is the same for all classes, acts with circumspection least this well-connected person uses those connections to make life harder on the judge.

Back to the person and role of Robert Von Gulik. Wiki describes him as a “Dutch orientalist, diplomat, musician, and writer”. I believe he also made the wood cuts that illustrate all of the of Judge Dee stories he either translated, adopted or created about Judge Dee. The illustration in this, an old paperback edition are described as “after the tradition of old wood cuts” The intro suggests that some are old carving of the Judge, but others with more technical knowledge than I have commented that the style of the clothes and the wood cuts are not consistent with either the 7th century or the 18th.

Closing out all this introduction. This book something of a first effort by Von Gulik to introduce a western audience to the Chinese tradition of detective stories. He had to trim it to a much shorter story, lose much of the magic, religious, comic and not part of a western notion of storytelling elements. He does keep, for example dream based inspiration and there is a touch of the ghost story to at least one of the murders. The book is a nice a nice bridge between two cultures.

The novel begins with the fact that there is trouble in Chang-ping. A citizen taking advantage the right of all citizens to ring the gong and summon the magistrate (Judge) and thereby gain a hearing before the judicial authority. The other wise quiet town is now host to a double homicide and the old man ringing the gong is there to protest he his being wrongly accused. Two traveling merchants had been staying in his hostel and were found murdered near the town center. So starts the case of the Double Murder at Dawn. By the end of the book the Judge will have a total of three unrelated cases to be solved and will have deal with the fact that that at least one of his solutions demands either more evidence than so far collected or the Judge himself will have to be executed and his family impoverished.

That I am a fan of Von Gulik is proved by the fact that this is at last my second read of this book. In recommending it to others I caution that part of what the author is trying to do is make clear why the book is written as it is and what a western reader might not be expected to know about Chinese law and storytelling. Some may find this a drag on what are legitimately baffling cases. Most often we know who done it, we do not know haw the cases will be proven. Making this more of a police procedural than a true mystery. At least one of the solutions is a tad to ‘pat’. It also involves the politics of going out of jurisdiction and dealing with men of the green woods, that is highway robbers.

Think of The Celebrated Cases Of Judge Dee as a painless lesson in another culture and a rippling good yarn. Or vice versa.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert van Gulik's translation he states in his notes is from an anonymous eighteenth or seventeenth century Chinese writer who tells the story of an actual Judge Dee. Dee lived in the seventh century, during the Tang dynasty. The three murder cases presented in this volume generate an authentic atmosphere of the times, for me at least. I understand the novel is full of anachronisms across a thousand year span. But for someone not expert in Chinese cultural history of those eras, he or she will never notice. I didn't. Nonetheless, van Gulik recreates a strong sense of things the way they were, including the intercession of spirits and ghosts taken for granted by Chinese people. It's a remarkable book. And it cleared the way for van Gulik to write his own fictionalized adventure of Judge Dee. So, I'll probably take a look at the first one in the series, next.

[Les Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As for me 5*+. If this is an example of the Chinese Detective, let's have more. I foe one would be only too happy to read them. What a shame they have been kept from us for so long.

[Любопитка · Rating 3 out of 5]

Проследяваме разследването на убийство на търговец на коприна и машинациите на коварна вдовица. Има свръх естествени сили, явяващи се призраци и голяма доза магия при разрешаването на заплетените загадки. Съдията Ди прибягва до нетрадиционни похвати за събиране на информация и водене на разследване преструвайки се на лечител. Той не се подвежда по лъжливи показания, проявявайки задълбочен поглед, отвъд очевидните твърдения. А йерархията в китайското общество стриктно се спазва, давайки почва за развитие на корупция и нечисти похвати за домогване до пари и положение. Има клевети и подкупи, а хората са подвластни на всички чисто човешки черти и пороци. И да спомена, че в Китай клеветата се наказва строго. Почита към предците е много дълбоко заложена във вярванията на китайците, а оскверняването на гроб се счита за огромен грях.

https://prezprozoreca.wordpress.com/2...

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Judge Dee handles three cases. In the first, two traveling silk merchants stay at a hostel and are later found murdered. The hostel owner is accused of robbing and killing them, although it's immediately clear to Judge Dee that there's more to the case than that. In the second, Judge Dee listens to an old woman's story about her son's death and her daughter-in-law's strange behavior in the period since then. He immediately suspects that the son was poisoned and that his wife had something to do with it. But can he get her to confess? The third case involves a beautiful young bride who may have been poisoned by a jealous scholar.

Although van Gulik explained in his notes that, contrary to modern Western mystery readers' expectations, Judge Dee would be handling these cases simultaneously, I didn't initially understand what that meant. I figured that it would be like mystery novels where one mystery takes precedence but little ones crop up in the middle for a bit of variety. Or perhaps it would be more like a short story anthology, with each story stitched together with transitional scenes in which criminals were punished or Judge Dee got caught up on his paperwork.

Instead, Judge Dee went hunting for clues/information about the double murder and accidentally stumbled across another mystery. He couldn't just ignore it, so he started investigating that one too. And, although a single symbolism-filled dream gave Judge Dee hints for all three cases, none of the cases were related in any way. It was definitely different from what I'm used to in my mystery reading, but not in a bad way.

All right, backing up a bit: I originally bought this during a used book shopping trip because I remembered watching and enjoying Detective Dee and the Phantom Flame. It was way more action-packed than this book, and I don't recall the movie's Detective Dee ever torturing anyone the way Judge Dee did, but I might have blocked that out. Still, despite the differences, I'm glad the movie got me to try this book.

While I probably would have found the mysteries interesting without van Gulik's notes, there are several aspects of the book that likely would have taken me aback without the context that he provided. The torture, for one thing, as well as the way some of the final sentencing was carried out. There was also a bit of an edutainment factor - van Gulik's analysis of the legal aspects of the book was fascinating, and I'm looking forward to eventually reading the original Judge Dee books he wrote after translating this book.

I was somewhat worried that this would be a dry read, but thankfully that turned out not to be the case, and van Gulik's notes added another level to my enjoyment. Although this can't quite be read with the same expectations one might have for a modern Western mystery - it was a shock when, before even seeing the crime scene, Judge Dee had a warden beaten for the way he'd handled the investigation's initial steps, and I winced at the part where Judge Dee decided to forgo an autopsy on a poisoning victim because the victim's family was so scholarly and respectable - it wasn't as far outside modern mystery expectations as I thought it might be. There were even a few nice humorous bits here and there (or at least humorous to me). I got a kick out of the false name Judge Dee chose for himself at one point in the story, as well as Ma Joong (one of Judge Dee's lieutenants) excitement at getting to play the part of a thief.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[Gouty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books by Robert Van Gulik have a very special place in my heart. In elementary school I borrowed one of his books from a neighbor, read the whole series, became fascinated with Chinese history and culture. This is one of the major influences that got me to major in Chinese language and literature.

First a bit about the author. Robert H. Van Gulik was the Dutch ambassador to Japan before the war. When the war started he became the Dutch ambassador to China. He was an incredible scholar.
The Dee Gong An takes a real Chinese magistrate Di Renjie who lived in the 7th century T’ang dynasty (600-900 C.E.), and has him solve a number of mysteries which are based off of traditional Chinese folk tales. This book’s format is Chinese in that the reader knows from the beginning whodunit, the pleasure is in how Dee solves it. Rather like Columbo. He later went on to write 15 other books still with Judge Dee but with a more traditional Western format of keeping the murderer secret untill the end.
Judge Dee is helped by his assistants, Ma Jong (ex-highwayman, martial arts expert), Chaio Tai (ex-military, ex-highwayman), Tao Gan (ex-thief/conman), and Sgt. Hoong (majordomo/secretary). In all of the books it follows the traditional form of the Judge having to solve 3 (sometimes related, sometimes not) crimes. These books are a pure pleasure to read and offer a fantastic look into ancient China. I have had professors asign Judge Dee mysteries in various classes because they are very accurate and offer a fantastically detailed look into ancient China. I cannot recommend the Judge Dee Series enough. Here is a list of all the Judge Dee books and short stories in the order of Dee’s life:
o The Chinese Gold Murders
o The Lacquer Screen.
o Five Auspicious Clouds, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o The Red Tape Murders, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o He came with the Rain, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o The Chinese Lake Murders
o The Morning of the Monkey, a short story in The Monkey and the Tiger
o The Murder on the Lotus Pond, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o The Haunted Monastery
o The Chinese Bell Murders
o The Two Beggers, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o The Wrong Sword, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o The Red Pavilion
o The Emperor's Pearl
o Poets and Murder
o Necklace and Calabash
o The Chinese Maze Murders
o The Phantom of the Temple
o The Coffins of the Emperor, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o Murder on New Year's Eve, a short story in Judge Dee at Work
o The Chinese Nail Murders
o The Night of the Tiger, a short story in The Monkey and the Tiger
o The Willow Pattern
o Murder in Canton
Two books, Poets and Murder and Necklace and Calabash, were not listed in the chronology (which was published before these two books were written) but they were both from the time when Judge Dee was the magistrate in Poo-yang
Sorry about the long review.
-G

[Lis Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judge Dee was a 7th century Chinese magistrate and statesman, of the Tang Dynasty. His cases were recorded in the Imperial archives, but most have not survived. In the 18th century, three cases were written into an anonymous Chinese mystery novel, Dee Goong An. Mystery novels were a popular Chinese genre, but usually with a strong supernatural element that Robert van Gulik thought would be unacceptable to western readers. Dee Goong An mostly lacks that element, and in 1949, van Gulik translated it into English. After that, he wrote his own entirely fictional adventures of Judge Dee, but this book is the only place to find the historical, or believed to be historical, cases of the historical Judge Dee.

Chinese district magistrates were completely responsible for peace and order in their districts, and in the investigation of serious crimes, they acted as judge, prosecutor, and detective. In the course of investigating his cases, Dee uses deceit, disguise, divination, dreams, and also threats and torture. Chinese law required that no one could be executed without a confession, and so even a case with overwhelming evidence might require torture. On the other hand, if an accused person died under torture without confessing, the magistrate and his entire staff could be executed. So, it was a potentially risky strategy.

The three cases are a bride poisoned on her wedding night, a double murder involving two silk merchants in a small town in the district, and a murder of small shopkeeper in another small town. That last murder wasn't recognized as murder for nearly a year, until Judge Dee, investigating the case of the silk merchants, overhears a remark about the death, the widow's retreat from all social life, and the fact that her young daughter has become mute. It's this case that poses the greatest danger and the greatest challenge to Dee.

The stories are good, interesting, and well-paced, and there's added interest because these stories reflect Chinese law and Chinese custom, even with the Ming dynasty anachronisms introduced by the anonymous Chinese author. It's a very enjoyable read, or listen, and well worth your time.

I bought this audiobook.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an 18th century Chinese detective novel.

China has a long tradition of detective novels and they quite distinctive from western detective novels. The purpose of this particular translation was to introduce the Chinese detective novel genre to a Western audience. This particular book was picked by the translator and publisher because the plot is more Western than most. It was said to be one of the influences to Neal Stephenson's novel, the Diamond Age.

The plot revolves around several interrelated crimes (murder and theft) which occurred around the same time. The local magistrate, Judge Dee, is responsible for solving the crimes and bringing the perpetrator to justice. At stake isn't just justice: it is the "face" of the town, the court, and the judge. If the judge does not solve the crime, not only does the criminal go free, but the entire town is disgraced. The judge eventually solves the crime with a combination of intelligence, keen insight, and moxie.

At the end of the book, there is an excellent essay detailing the distinctive characteristics of Chinese detective stories: casual use of torture by authorities, supernatural elements/superstition, role archetypes for those assigned to assist the judge, intellectual chess matches between the judge and the criminals, and most striking: a presentation of a story from a Confucian world view.

This book was very good, interesting, and entertaining. However, had I read the essay at the end of the book before the story, I would have enjoyed it even more.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the era of seventh-century A.D. and written in the eighteenth-century A.D., the book of Chinese detective stories is translated in modern times. Robert Van Gulik's lucid translation from Chinese feels contemporary and his changes to the original text are likewise clearly reasoned. Judge Dee is a "magistrate of Chang-ping". Three murders come before him and his lieutenants (some of whom are reformed shady characters and one of them is his lifelong servant). Altogether they use snooping and intuition and some intervention by ghosts to discover the true culprit. Erroneous accusations and torments would turn the tables on the Judge. The three cases involve a mysteriously dead bride on her wedding night, a double murder and some stolen raw silk, and a buried corpse whose death might not have been accidental. There are woodcut-like illustrations spaced through the story. The book exemplifies the genre of Chinese detective fiction. The Translator's Postscript includes some further reading in that genre.

[Бранимир Събев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Останах доволен. Сега, това крими не е като онуй крими - не е от Запада, а е от Изтока, и не е съвременно, ами е от времето, когато Аспарух тепърва е побил копието с конската опашка по нашите земи. Харесвате ли Китайски загадки, ще ви допадне - ако не, не мога да гарантирам. Тук, както и в други книги от поредицата които съм чел, финалът не е сватба, плод на невероятна дедукция, да хвърлим престъпника в затвора, той сам да се прецака или да се завоалира мъгляво с измъкването му, че да видим продължение. В Китайските загадки на съдията Ди:

1. Намират се неопровержими доказателства за вината на престъпника.
2. Хващат го, той отрича, прилагат му зверски мъчения и си признава всичко.
3. Записват му показанията и го карат да потвърди признанията с пръстов отпечатък.
4. Изкарват го извън града и го екзекутират всеки път по различен начин.
5. Конфискуват му цялото имущество и част от него е за близките на жертвата, част за държавата и покриване на съдебните разноски, а съдията получава повишение или поне похвала от по-висока инстанция.

Одобряюс!

[Jack Massa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable as a mystery novel, but mostly interesting to me for all the knowledge it provides on daily life, society, government, and law in Tang China.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

The torture-them-until-they-confess spirit of the detection is not saying Christmas to me. Maybe at Easter.

[Long John Silver]

Mia recensione:

https://ilrifugiodilongjohnsilver.blo...

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early Chinese work in the detective fiction genre, of a type whereby the cases of renowned magistrates are collected, these ones from the 18th century. Translator Van Gulik provides a fascinating introduction and postscript, the former introducing us to the tradition of Chinese crime stories, which typically of old began with lengthy descriptions of the criminal and ended with a gruesome execution, consultations with religious deities made use of by the magistrate.

Judge Dee, however, is slightly more in line with the Western conception of detective stories, with three criminal cases unspooled to end in a final revelation of the culprits. The book in this sense is relatively close to the tone and appeal of the Sherlock Holmes stories, relying less on a puzzle that the reader can figure out via clues than adventures whereby the detective employs disguises, conducts experiments, fights assailants, etcetera.

It’s worth mentioning that the book is extremely gruesome in some aspects. The cover of the pictured edition depicts a scene where an adulterous woman is tortured for her confession, and torture is employed liberally throughout to extract information from accused subjects. This of course is abhorrent to us now, and regardless what allowances you make for the time, it definitely colours the novel. I struggled to like or admire Judge Dee very much even as the story insisted on his rectitude and intelligence. Certainly he comes across as wise and shrewd, and what he does is in line with the mores of his age, but I can’t pretend that it’s not a shock to the system to see a detective hero force a man to kneel on hot chains, almost dislocate a suspect’s limbs on a cross, torture a woman so that she spends the night hallucinating… The prose doesn’t linger sadistically on that material, but it’s there.

The plot interweaves three distinct mysteries, the first about a double murder of travelling silk merchants, the second a widow whose young husband passed unaccountably before their daughter was struck mute, and the third a bride poisoned on her wedding night. The latter was my favourite of the three, a clever story that reminded me of “The Speckled Band” and “Silver Blaze”, both Sherlock Holmes adventures, in some of its particulars.

The book also teaches a fair amount about bygone China, and I was especially fond of the information as to the supernatural means that the judge uses to solve his cases. These include rituals that involve the divination of dreams, and a very amusing, macabre late set-piece around a mocked-up infernal court. All in all, a pretty fun read if you’d like to see some of the roots of the detective genre.

[Nihal Vrana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful reading experience. First hats off to Mr. van Gulik for all his efforts to make this work accessible to non-Chinese readers. He went well beyond translation and thought of a conceptual framework to make the story understandable and that's no small feat.

Beyond that; the construction of the story (three unrelated crimes unfolding in a random manner) was very clever. The dry but fluent way the whole thing is written makes it very easy to read. The torture parts were a bit hard to take (but again the matter-of-factly way that they were described made me shiver; to me that's good writing) and I wouldn't want to live in a Chinese province in 7th century with a bad judge for sure.

Unlike Mr. van Gulik, I liked the supernatural items in the story because they were so seamlessly put within the fabric of the setting. They were more like early attempts at pscyhoanalysis and subconscious pattern recognition than actual fantasy items.

They were unintentionally hilarious parts too; for example getting leniency for being "extremely stupid" :) I'm not sure I would want that (well it still beats sitting on scorching metal chains...)