Customer Reviews

The Chinese Bell Murders : A Judge Dee Detective Story (Judge Dee Detective Story)

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The Chinese Bell Murders is another of the classic Judge Dee mysteries authored by Robert Van Gulik. This book, along with the Chinees Maze Murders, is probably the best of the Judge Dee books.

The plot of this story involves three disparate events, a rape/murder, shenanigans in a Buddhist temple where women with fertility problems are apparently giving birth due to divine interventions, and a corrupt businessman who is involved in a bloody family feud. Along the way, Judge Dee and his assistants have an encounter with the bell that is the title of the story. Van Gulik ties up everything in a tidy package that is engrossing and gives the reader an insight into ancient China.

What is impressive about this book is the historical accuracy and insights about the Chinese character given by Van Gulik, no doubt due to his service in the Dutch foreign service and his credentials as a Sinologist. The Buddhist influence in T'ang Dynasty China and the corruption of monks was a constant problem and Van Gulik is not complimentary in his portrayal, which is similar to the unfavorable portrayals of Buddhism by Chinese writers throughout history. Also, the corruption of businessmen in China and the conflict between northern and southern China is well portrayed. Only a Chinese or somebody who is familiar with China can understand the nuances and conflict.

As one of the original five Judge Dee books (this one is the second book in the sequence), the detail and the plot are very much in line with the famous Chinese stories of the day, albeit in a more compact form. This lends authenticity and makes these stories better than the later Judge Dee stories, which are still good.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE CHINESE BELL MURDERS in which Judge Dee solves the mystery surrounding the death of a young girl, where all the evidence points to the guilt of the deceased lover. on her wedding night.

Judge Dee-Jen Dijeh (630-700 A.D.) was a Magistrate known for his wisdom & wit in China, & his stories were a part of the local folklore. Robert Van Gulik, who had a historian's interest in China in the early 1950s, was fascinated by the tales of this judge, & finally collected & fictionalized them into four volumes.

The wit, ingenuity, & genius of Judge Dee is well reflected. Remember the old tales of King Solomon the Just -- well, give them an Asian flavor, a touch of Old China -- & you get Judge Dee.

All of Judge Dee's books are most pleasurable - - worthy of 10 stars!

Yet another strong entry in Robert Van Gulik's series about a crime solving Imperial Magistrate in seventh-century China. In this book, Judge Dee has taken up a new posting in the large and flourishing district of Poo-yang on China's east coast. The district seems prosperous and relatively crime free, so the judge's retinue consisting of his faithful retainers Sergeant Hoong, Ma Joong, Tao Gan and Chiao Tai are all looking forward to an easy posting. But contrary to all expectations, the team has to deal with several crimes in the district soon after arrival. A young girl has been raped and murdered with her killer absconding and the judge is also asked to look into a long series of crimes committed by one of Poo-yang's wealthiest merchants Lin Fan by one of his victims who may have her own hidden agenda....To make matters more complicated, the judge soon learns that the monks in the wealthy Buddhist temple in the area may be preying upon unsuspecting women and cheating them of large sums of money by promising them that they will be able to conceive a child by offering prayers and money at the temple! This may seem like an overwhelming series of problems, but Judge Dee with the help of his assistants is able to clear up the various crimes with his usual flair and wisdom. Enormously entertaining, both for its wealth of historical detail about ancient China as well as for its finely plotted mysteries. Highly recommended for fans of the series and even those who are just looking for a good mystery read.

I have read all the Judge Dee mysteries at least twice, and really love them. However, I have just read a number of books on China and discover that van Gulik has purposefully mislead readers to make ancient Chinese justice just like Western justice and rather appealing. The truth is almost the exact opposite.

If you are interested, a standard history of china by harvard professor John Fairbank and Merle Goldman, China A History, explains that the Chinese justice system was openly corrupt (corruption did not have to be secret - it was and is the accepted way), relied on torture of both plaintiff and defendent, had no consistent laws, no equal punishments for the same offence (everything was based on class and kinship status) and bascially was just like modern Communist law: it was a vehicle for the state to control behavior. The goal was not 'justice' in the Judeo-Christian sense but state control.

Also like Communist China under Mao, imperial law relied on collective punishment to terrorize the populace. The entire population was divided into groups of ten and one hundred families, and if anyone in the whole group was condemned, the entire group could be executed. For serious offenses against the state, thousands of families could all be executed.

Van Gulik is always showing citizens bringing disputes before the court. In reality, this was never done (as both sides could be tortured and both sides had to pay the court and both sides had to bribe the court). Instead, people relied on their village elders or clan heads to rule on disputes, as the court system was too dangerous.

Most of the ideals that Van Gulik gives to Judge Dee of fairness, protecting the weak against the strong etc. are Christian values that go back to the Jewish Bible (God creating all men equal, protect the weak and the stranger, equality before the law etc). They are antithetical to Chinese values from imperial to modern times. It is very important not to pretend that foreign cultures are the same as we are...or that our values are universal. They are very special treasures that we should be incredibly grateful for.

The Judge Dee books also mention women's tiny feet at times, but he never tells the reader that until 1900, all upper class and middle class women in China had their feet broken and maimed leading to their being crippled for life, unable to walk normallyeuphemism - binding their feet). From the 19th century, this custom of torturing and crippling women spread among the peasants also. 10% of girls probably died from this treatment.

Van Gulik prominently features 'courtesans' and 'prostitutes.' A more accurate term might be slaves or sex slaves.

We are often told that China was 'more advanced' than the west until modern times. In truth, they were most comparable to ancient Rome, a cruel and despotic slave-owning culture with admirable roads and art. But Rome at least had rule of law, something China never had.

So, enjoy Judge Dee - but take it for what it is, bascially a fun Western mystery story set in a lovingly recreated period piece, kind of like most Hollywood movies - great costumes, great settings, fun plots, endearing characters - all basically unrealistic.

This book is part of Van Gulik's Judge Dee series of 'historical fiction' that chronicles the cases investigated by the famous magistrate from classical Chinese detective stories. Despite being written more than 40 years ago (first published in 1960), the book remains surprisingly readable even today.

The story is well plotted and full of historical details of Chinese culture and practices of the period (the author having been a diplomatic envoy based in China for many years). A refreshing change from typical detective novels, this book is and others in the series are unique and deserves a place on the shelf of every mystery fan.

The Judge Dee Mystery Series by Robert Van Gulik are paperbacks that I keep after I read them. In fact I have purchased every one that Amazon offers. These are superb Asian-flavored legal mysteries, impressive because of the historical accuracy and insights about the Chinese character given by Van Gulik. In this book one of the cases the Judge solves (there are 3 different cases) is the mystery surrounding the death of a young girl on her wedding night. Needless to say Judge Dee gets to the bottom of the murder and solves all 3 mysteries. It's important to note that Judge Dee-Jen Dijeh (630-700 A.D.) was a real Magistrate known for his wisdom in China, and his stories became a part of the folklore of China. Robert Van Gulik was fascinated by the tales of this judge and wrote a fictionalized series featuring the Judge in the early 1950s. If you enjoy well crafted myteries that are full of wit, clever plot devices, action and adventure as well as great descriptions of food and culture, you'll love all the Judge Dee Books just as I do.

This lovely mystery shows Judge Dee, the Chinese Sherlock Holmes, hard at work as district magistrate in Van Gulik's ancient China. As is usual in this series, Judge Dee has more than one case to solve.

A butcher's daughter has been murdered. Her lover, a slight young man from the literary classes, is accused and would have been condemned by Dee's predecessor except there wasn't enough time to finish the paperwork before Judge Dee arrived to administer the district. But Dee notices an anomaly...and sets out to find the real murderer!

One of Dee's assistants notices something fishy about the wealthy Buddhist temple in town. Dee tells his subordinate that the Buddhists are too powerful in the Imperial Court for an investigation to be pursued. Even more shocking, he appears to accept a bribe from the monks...but it turns out Dee has a clever plan to get at the truth!

An old lady comes into court with a complex legal case and a complaint of murder against a wealthy Cantonese merchant. None of Dee's assistants can get a clue against this devious man. Only when Dee goes incognito into danger can justice be done!

In the end, gristly punishment falls on the offenders and virtue is rewarded! Mystery fans will find triple satisfaction in this one.