I have always enjoyed the self-containedness of van Gulik’s Judge Dee world, the vast differencc from our world but the completeness and coherence he gives it. It justifies calling his work “escapist”. I feel I am escaping from modern Europe completely when I open one of these books.
There were sixteen books altogether in the Judge Dee series. Robert van Gulik also published several volumes of scholarship and one contemporary novel, The Given Day. It was a magnificent body of work from somebody who died rather young and who also pursued a demanding career as a diplomat.
Here is background he supplied about the real Judge Dee, along with a chronology of the fictional Judge Dee. Apart from three late books, The Phantom of the Temple, Necklace nnd Calabash and Poets and Murder, each of the novels describe three separate cases that the Judge must investigate simultaneously.
COLOPHON
JUDGE DEE was a historical person. His full name was Dee Jen-djieh and he lived from A.D. 630 to 700. In the latter half of his career he became a Minister of State, and through his wise counsels exercised a beneficial influence on the internal and external affairs of the T'ang empire.
However, it is chiefly because of his reputation as a detector of crimes, acquired while serving as district magistrate, that his name lives on among the Chinese people. Today the Chinese still consider him their master-detective, and his name is as popular with them as that of Sherlock Holmes with us.
Although the stories told in the present volume [Judge Dee at Work] are entirely fictional, I utilized some data from old Chinese crime literature, especially a thirteenth-century manual of jurisprudence and detec¬tion which I published ten years ago in an English translation (T’ang-yin-pi-shih, Sinica Leidensia vol. X, E. J. Brill, Leiden 1956). The final passage of ‘The Murder on the Lotus Pond’ was suggested by Cases 33A and B recorded in that book, and the weighing of the sarcophagus described in ‘The Coffins of the Emperor’ by a note added to Case 35B.
The design of the incense-clock utilized in ‘Five Auspicious Clouds’ I copied from the Hsiang-yin-t’u-k’ao, a collection of such patterns published in 1878; I used the same source for the pattern of the maze in The Chinese Maze Murders.
Note that in China the surname precedes the personal name. Also that in Judge Dee's time the Chinese wore no pig-tails; that custom was imposed upon them in A.D. 1644 by the Manchu conquerors. Men did their long hair up in a top-knot, they wore caps both inside and outside the house. They didn't smoke, tobacco and opium were introduced into China only many centuries later.
Tokyo: 1967
Fictitious, except for his birthdate, and the historical note at the end, and covering sixteen novels, two novellas and eight short stories.
| TIME, PLACE AND JUDGE DEE’S OFFICE |
TITLES (SHORT STORIES AND NOVELLAS MARKED BY AN ASTERISK) |
INFORMATION ON JUDGE DEE, HIS FAMILY, HIS LIEUTENANTS, AND PERSONS WHO APPEAR IN MORE THAN ONE STORY |
|---|---|---|
|
A.D. 630 Tai-yuan, capital of Shansi Province. |
Judge Dee born. Receives elementary education at home. Passes the provincial literary examinations. | |
|
650 The capital |
Judge Dee’s father appointed Imperial Councillor in the capital. Judge Dee acts as his father’s private secretary, marries his First and Second Ladies. Passes metropolitan literary examination, and is appointed secretary in the Imperial Archives. | |
|
663 Magistrate of Peng-lai, a district on the north-east coast of the Chinese Empire |
The Chinese Gold Murders, (London 1959). The Murdered Magistrate, The Bolting Bride, The Butchered Bully. |
Judge Dee’s first independent official post. Proceeds there accompanied by Sergeant Hoong. Meets on the way Ma loong and Chiao Tai. First mention of the sword Rain Dragon; Chiao Tai foresees he will be killed by that sword (P. 31). Ch. XV describes adventures of Miss Tsao. |
| *Five Auspicious Clouds | One week after Judge Dee’s arrival in Peng-lai. Mrs Ho suicide or murder? Solved by Judge Dee alone. | |
| *The Red Tape Murder | One month later. A military murder, solved by Judge Dee, assisted by Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. Colonel Meng appears. | |
| *He Came with the Rain | Six months later. Murder of a pawnbroker, solved by Judge Dee alone. Colonel Meng is again referred to. Judge Dee decides to marry Miss Tsao as his Third Lady. | |
|
The Lacquer Screen (London 1962). The Lacquer Screen, The Credulous Merchant, The Faked Accounts. |
Solved by Judge Dee, assisted by Chiao Tai, during a brief sojourn in the district Wei-ping. Second reference to Chiao Tai dying by the sword (p. 140) | |
|
666 Magistrate of Han- yuan, a district on the bank of a lake, near the capital. |
The Chinese Lake Murders (London 1960). The Drowned Courtesan, The Vanished Bride, The Spendthrift Councillor. |
Solved by Judge Dee, Hoong, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. His future fourth lieutenant Tao Gan here makes his first appearance (p. 153). The rich landowner Han Yung-han appears (passim). Description of the King of the Beggars of Han-yuan (p. 118). |
|
*The Morning of the Monkey (in The Monkey and the Tiger, London 1965) |
Murder of a tramp, solved by Judge Dee and Tao Gan; Tao Gan is definitively taken into Judge Dee’s service. The King of the Beggars reappears (p. 31). Han Yung¬han mentioned (p. 59). | |
| The Haunted Monastery (London 1961). The Embalmed Abbot, The Pious Maid, The Morose Monk. | Scene is laid in an old Taoist temple, in the mountains of Han-yuan. Murders solved by Judge Dee, with Tao Gan. Judge Dee’s attitude to his wives described on p. 12. | |
| *The Murder on the Lotus Pond | The murder of an old poet, solved by Judge Dee, with Ma Joong. | |
|
668 Magistrate of Poo- yang, a large, flourishing district in Kiangsu Province on the Grand Canal. |
The Chinese Bell Murders (London 1958). The Rape Murder in Half Moon Street, The Secret of the Buddhist Temple, The Mysterious Skeleton. |
Solved by Judge Dee, with his four lieutenants Sergeant Hoong, Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and Tao Can. Introduction of Sheng Pa, Head of the Beggars (passim). Introduction of Magistrate Lo of the neighbouring district (Ch. IX) |
| *The Two Beggars | Magistrate Lo referred to again. | |
| *The Wrong Sword | Murder of a young acrobat, solved by Judge Dee, with Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. Sheng Pa reappears | |
|
The Red Pavilion (London 1964). The Callous Courtesan, The Amorous Academician, The Unlucky Lovers. |
Scene is laid in the amusement resort of Paradise Island where Judge Dee stays two days with Ma Joong. Magistrate Lo reappears in Chapters II and XX. | |
|
The Emperor’s Pearl (London 1963). The Dead Drummer, The Murdered Slavemaid, The Emperor’s Pearl. |
Murders during the annual boat races, solved by Judge Dee, assisted by Sergeant Hoong, Sheng Pa reappears in Chapter VIII; his romance with Miss Violet Liang. | |
| Necklace and Calabash (London, 1967) | In Rivertown on holiday, Judge Dee is summoned by the Third Princess to investigate the theft of a necklace. | |
| Poets and Murder (London, 1968) | Visiting Magistrate Lo for the Autumn Festival, Judge Dee is invited to question the poetess Yoo-lan who is being taken to the capital charged with murder. | |
|
670 Magistrate of Lan-fang, a district on the extreme western frontier. |
The Chinese Maze Murders (London 1952). The Murder in the Sealed Room, The Hidden Testament, The Girl with the Severed Head. | On p. 22 are given the reasons for Judge Dee’s abrupt transfer to this remote border district. The overthrow of a local tyrant and several mysterious murders, solved by Judge Dee, with Hoong, Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and Tao Gan. The Uigur girl Tulbee becomes Ma Joong’s sweetheart (p. 173). Headman Fang’s story (P. 35); Fang’s son appointed constable (p. 289). |
| The Phantom of the Temple (London 1966). | Three crimes that turn out to be one, solved by Judge Dee with Sergeant Hoong and Ma Joong. Description of Judge Dee’s three wives on P. 40; more details about his Third Lady (the former Miss Tsao) on p. 104. The Uigur girl Tulbee reappears (p. 56). References to Headman Fang and his son (pp. 11 and 136). | |
| *The Coffins of the Emperor | Two difficult cases solved by Judge Dee alone, when summoned to the border district Ta-shih-kou during the Tartar war. | |
| *Murder on New Year’s Eve | A most unusual case, solved by Judge Dee alone, after he had been four years in Lan-fang. | |
|
676 Magistrate of Pei-chow, a desolate district up in the barren north |
The Chinese Nail Murders (London 1961). The Headless Corpse, The Paper Cat, The Murdered Merchant. |
After only a few months in this new post, Judge Dee was appointed Lord Chief Justice, in the capital. In Pei-chow he solves several particularly cruel murders, with Hoong, Ma Joong, Chiao Tai and Tao Can; but Sergeant Hoong is killed while working on a case. The antecedents of Judge Dee’s three wives are given on p. 116. Introduction of Mrs Kuo, the Lady of the Medicine Hill (p. 38). |
| *The Night of the Tiger (in The Monkey and the Tiger, London, 1965). | Murder of a young girl solved by Judge Dee alone when, on his way from Pei-chow to the capital, he has to stay overnight in a lonely country house. References to Mrs Kuo and Sergeant Hoong’s death, on p. 91 | |
|
677 Lord Chief Justice, in the imperial capital |
The Willow Pattern (London, 1965). The Willow Pattern, The Steep Staircase, The Murdered Bondmaid. |
Judge Dee has taken up his new office of Lord Chief Justice, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai have been appointed Colonels of the Guard, Tao Gan chief secretary of the Metropolitan Court. Ma Joong marries the Yuan twin sisters. |
|
681 Lord Chief Justice. |
Murder in Canton (London, 1966). The Vanished Censor, The Smaragdine Dancer, The Golden Bell. |
Scene is laid in Canton, where Judge Dee has been sent on a special mission. Murders solved by Judge Dee, with the assistance of Chiao Tai and Tao Gan. Chiao Tai is killed by the sword Rain Dragon, Tao Gan decides to marry Miss Liang. Reference to Mrs Kuo and the tragedy on Medicine Hill on p. 160. |
Historical Note: Judge Dee died in A.D. 700, at the age of seventy. He was survived by two sons, Dee Guang-se and Dee Djing-hui, who had an honourable official career without, however, particularly distinguishing themselves. It was his grandson Dee Djien-mo who inherited his grandfather’s remarkable personality and great wisdom; he died as governor of the Imperial Capital.