Customer Reviews

Judge Dee at Work: Eight Chinese Detective Stories (Judge Dee Mysteries)

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I first became aware of the Judge Dee stories after reading the short story "He Came with the Rain" in a historical mystery collection. I loved the story so much that I promptly went to Amazon.com to find more Judge Dee novels and stories. This collection of eight short stories is particularly interesting as it covers about 20 years in Judge Dee's career through several of his postings. The stories are extremely interesting, both for the wealth of historical detail as well as the actual mystery content. Judge Dee as a District Magistrate is the leading civilian authority but I found stories such as "The Red Tape Murder" particularly interesting when he clashes with military authorities. This gives Dr. Van Gulik the opportunity to introduce snippets about ancient Chinese history, particularly about the clashes with Korea and the Tartar offenses on China's Western borders. This is a period of Chinese history where very little is known - almost a sort of Chinese Dark Ages - so it is wonderful to learn more about that time, also about the social customs of the era, which I found surprisingly modern, with the exception of the accepted practice of polygamy! If you are interested in historical mystery fiction, I would highly recommend the series. Also try the Sister Fidelma series about a mystery solving nun in Dark Ages Ireland - it is equally atmospheric!

Dutch diplomat Robert van Gulik wrote the Judge Dee mysteries (in English!) to introduce the West to the Chinese version of the mystery story, which arose centuries before the English detective story. Judge Dee is an actual historical person, a magistrate of the seventh century during the T'ang dynasty, who was renown in China for his ability to solve crimes. In Judge Dee at Work, van Gulik presents us with eight short stories each of a single case (the novels, in the Chinese tradition, involve 3 intertwined cases) that take place throughout the judge's long career (magistrates were usually moved to a new post every three years). A table at the back of the book, places each case and all the novels within the timeline of Judge Dee's life.

I have read about half the novels and this book of short stories, and I have enjoyed them all. Early on, Judge Dee employs three different men to be his lieutenants, and they do much of the legwork for him. However, Dee is also very hands-on, going to the crime scenes and sometimes even going about in disguise. In some of the short stories here, he solves the mystery on his own. van Gulik has created a good detective in Dee; he is very, very smart, fair, compassionate to victims and stern with criminals. The cases are varied and interesting, and difficult to solve. I especially like the setting of ancient China. van Gulik really seems to know the era he is writing about, and he brings it alive through the actions and dialog of the story. There is no exposition here. If we need to know the differences of Taoism to Buddhism, we find out through a conversation of Dee with a monk or other character. That really makes the stories glide along. Sometimes a choice of phrase seems a little odd or modern for the setting, and I assume that arises from the fact that van Gulik was Dutch writing about China in English. In any event, these quirks become rather fun and don't detract at all from the stories. van Gulik also made illustrations in the traditional Chinese style of the time, and they add to the stories. I am very glad I have found the Judge Dee mysteries, and Judge Dee at Work is an excellent way to meet the judge and his world. You will be glad you did.

The wonderful thing about these stories is the sense of time and place which comes through in all of them. We find ourselves easily transported to seventh century China, and the world of a highly organised empire, with its representative in the various cities which serve as venues for the stories, the Magistrate, in the person of Judge Dee.

Robert Van Gulick's picture of Chinese life, crafted from his own extensive study of China, both underpins and overlays these elegant detective stories. Those inhabiting these stories are truly the inhabitants of the places: walking through the streets, eating at the restaurants, working in the Tribunal, and interacting with all classes of their highly stratified society.

The characters are well developed, from Judge Dee himself to his various colourful assistants and lieutenants, who do most (but not all) of the Tribunal's leg work. Criminals, victims, witnesses, and others along the way complete the fascinating tableaux.

There are references to the various Judge Dee novels at the beginning of each story providing a context within the magistrate's career. Numerous line drawings by the author gently illuminate the stories.

Indeed, during China's glorious Tang Dynasty (AD 618-960) - the golden age of China, under the reign of Empress Wu Tzi Tien, there was a great judge whose actual native name was Pao Kung (Judge Dee). He was compassionate and full of wisdom and many well-known cases were judged and solved by him and his loyal subordinates. Sometime Justice Pao Kung would commence his judgement at night in his magistrate under candlelight which surely added mystery and awe to the solemn occasion. One of his most celebrated cases was the judgement of a murdered baby prince in which the murderess substitited the corpse with the body of a civet cat...! Legend had it that Magistrate Pao or Dee (as translated by Van Gulik) was born inside a coffin of her deceased mother and therefore half of his face was black and the other half white. Reputedly, he had the supernatural ability to converse with gods and departed souls in the Spirit World which would assist him in delivering judgement. Judge Dee was revered and respected by the throne as well as high officials and he travelled a great deal from province to province to supervise difficult to solve cases. The late Robert Van Gulik had translated many cases of the famous Judge Dee and derived most of his stories from the files of the Tang Dynasty archives and then embellished them somewhat for excitement and drama. Even today, in the tea houses of China, professional storytellers would enthrilled their audience with stories of Justice Pao...! When I was growing up in the then British Malaysia in the 1950s, I had listened to an old storyteller, under a bean oil lamp, telling exciting tales of Judge Dee. He would charge a penny each from the audience Presently, I have had read many of his translations by Van Gulik - notably the Chinese Murder Series which are now classics and give both the Western and Oriental readers an insight into the lives and times of the glorious Tang Dynasty. Justice Pao or Judge Dee was an honest official, incorruptible, learned, a good homicidal investigator and judge of human characters. His judgments, as translated by Van Gulik, is firm and without the slightest error. I urge readers of mysteries and crimes to read the translated works of Judge Dee - never a dull moment and please go for them to while away your time...Cheers.

In Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories there exist some significant quality-control problems, as even lifelong fans like myself freely admit. This is also true of the works of Shakespeare, Hemingway, Faulkner, Melville, Twain, and everyone else who wrote a large body of fiction or drama--AND the same is true of Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee stories.

JUDGE DEE AT WORK was first published in 1967; seven of these eight stories are basically Fair-Play Puzzle stories (most of them very good, but not all of them); the remaining tale (the last one in this book) is a Feel-Good story with a fortunate outcome despite some unsuccessful "detection." I will deal briefly with each story in the order of appearance in the book.

"Five Auspicious Clouds" is a fairly good Puzzle story centered around the time of death of a murder victim.

"The Red Tape Murder" is interesting for its civilian vs. military context but is very implausible as far as both the means of the murder and the rapid death of the victim are concerned (SPOILER ALERT: an arrow lying on a floor is kicked with a bare foot upwards into the gut of the victim--who dies right away); further, this case is "solved" chiefly because of several lucky coincidences.

"He Came with the Rain" contains a simple Puzzle involving the murder of a pawn shop owner but is enjoyable for other factors: Judge Dee, along the way, learns about folk beliefs--and makes a decision about his future marital condition.

"The Murder on the Lotus Pond" (which has frequently been reprinted elsewhere) has only a so-so Puzzle about the murder of a poet.

"The Two Beggars" is one of the best stories in this book: it involves the appearance of a "ghost" that causes Judge Dee to investigate the death of a man dressed in rags--and its Puzzle is a good challenge to the reader's wits.

"The Wrong Sword" contains a fairly good Puzzle, and its format is quite different: Judge Dee's subordinates gather the information while he is away, and he "puts it together" when he returns.

"The Coffins of the Emperor" contains a better-than-average Puzzle and better-than-average background material: among many other things, van Gulik (writing at least at least 43 years ago) portrays Judge Dee as totally non-judgmental about gay officers serving in the army of the T'ang Empire. (I consulted two professors of Chinese history and a Taiwanese lawyer by email, but was unable to verify whether this viewpoint is historically accurate.)

"Murder on New Year's Eve" concludes the collection with a non-Puzzle story: a somewhat touching tale of Judge Dee's successful attempt to assist a little boy in need.

As a final bonus feature, this book contains a 4-page "Judge Dee Chronology" which provides a useful overview to Judge Dee's career and the cases covered in this book and other books by van Gulik.

Judge Dee is in a class with Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, and Hercule Poirot. Van Gulik was a European diplomat who spent many years in China; he started writing about Judge Dee when he translated a traditional tale of that sage official and then decided to write original Judge Dee tales.

Love these books! Always entertaining and enlightening about Chinese history. Smart and interesting. I plan to read them all and pass along to friends.

love all the judge dee stories! if you are interested in things chinese and love mysteries, give this book a try. i will admit a couple of the stories could be better but i still enjoyed reading them. a great sense of history and great atmosphere.