Customer Reviews

Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An) (Detective Stories)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

This is a reprint of a detective novel written in the 18th century that is set in 7th century China. Written by someone well versed in Chinese law, it outs three of Judge Dee's most famous cases together into one novel. Judge Dee was a district Magistrate, a combination prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner (if necessary). Magistrates had pretty wide authority to interrogate anyone, and use any method to get a confession, including beatings and torture. But, if a Magistrate executed someone who was later found to be innocent (for instance), the Magistrate was executed.

In the first case, a pair of silk merchants spend the night at a hostel in a certain town. The next morning, just outside of town, one of them is found dead. The local Warden (the town policeman) immediately accuses the hostel owner of killing, then robbing, the merchant, something the hostel owner vigorously denies. The second case involves a young bride who is poisoned on her wedding night. In the third case, a young widow and her mother live alone. The widow's husband died a year previously under less than clear circumstances. Not only does the young widow lock herself in her room for half a day every day, she also gets very angry and belligerent toward her mother whenever any men come around; not just potential suitors, but any men. As Judge Dee investigates, and interroagtes both women, the circumstances of the husband's death get more and more mysterious.

Chinese detective novels are very different than their western counterparts. The culprit is introduced in the beginning of the story, and the interest is in seeing how the crime is solved. They tend to get very detailed, especially concerning the method of torture and execution, so a length of several hundred pages is common. This novel is one of the shorter ones that are available.

For mystery lovers who want to read a very different type of novel, this is worth checking out. Agatha Christie has little to fear from Chinese detective novels regarding competition, but it is still worth the reader's time.

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.

An actual translation of a Chinese detective novel, this is good fun for mystery buffs, and especially for anyone familiar with van Gulik's Judge Dee series.

The Judge, with his familiar retinue, faces three puzzling mysteries. Some elements of this are reworked in later Dee novels: the poisoned-bride story inspired part of THE CHINESE GOLD MURDERS and the killer widow story was lifted and slightly altered for THE CHINESE NAIL MURDERS.

Nevertheless, this is a breath of fresh air for those who want something different. Readers curious about Chinese culture will appreciate the text and the notes, and will enjoy a good, readable translation.

To start on the fictional Judge Dee novels, start with THE CHINESE GOLD MURDERS.

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.

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

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.

I am a Chinese and found the author has translated this book in a very professional way even i myself was amazed by the whole bench of Chiese Classical Books being used as references . This book precisely described the background , culture and state of mind of the people living in the Tang Dynasty .It is a good Chinese detective book , i just cannot stop reading .Hope u will enjoy this book too .

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.