Robert van Gulik
Encyclopedia
Robert Hans van Gulik (August 9, 1910, Zutphen – September 24, 1967, The Hague
) was a highly educated orientalist
, diplomat
, musician
(of the guqin
), and writer
, best known for the Judge Dee
mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An
.
(modern-day Indonesia
). He was born in the Netherlands
, but from the age of three till twelve he lived in Batavia (now Jakarta
), where he was tutored in Mandarin and other languages. He went to the University of Leyden in 1934 and obtained his Ph.D in 1935. His talents as a linguist suited him for a job in the Dutch Foreign Service, which he joined in 1935; and he was then stationed in various countries, mostly in East Asia (Japan
and China
).
He was in Tokyo when Japan declared war on the Netherlands in 1941, but he, along with the rest of the Allied diplomatic staff, was evacuated in 1942. He spent most of the rest of World War II
as the secretary for the Dutch mission to Chiang Kai-shek
's Nationalist government in Chongqing
. While in Chongqing, he married a Chinese woman (Shui Shifang), the daughter of an Imperial mandarin (under the Manchu Dynasty). Together they had four children.
After the war ended, he returned to the Netherlands, then went to the United States
as the councillor of the Dutch embassy in Washington D.C. He returned to Japan in 1949 and stayed there for the next four years. While in Tokyo, he published his first two books, the translation Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
and a privately published book of erotic colored prints from the Ming dynasty
. Later postings took him all over the world, from New Delhi
, Kuala Lumpur
, and Beirut
(during the 1958 Civil War) to The Hague
. From 1965 until his early death from cancer in 1967, he was the Dutch ambassador to Japan.
van Gulik translated the 18th-century detective novel Dee Goong An into English under the title Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
(first published in Tokyo
in 1949). The main character of this book, Judge Dee, was based on the real statesman and detective Di Renjie
, who lived in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynasty
(AD 600–900), though in the novel itself elements of Ming Dynasty China (AD 1300–1600) were mixed in.
Thanks to his translation of this largely forgotten work, van Gulik became interested in Chinese detective fiction. To the translation he appended an essay on the genre in which he suggested that it was easy to imagine rewriting some of the old Chinese case histories with an eye toward modern readers. Not long afterward he himself tried his hand at creating a detective story along these lines. This became the book The Chinese Maze Murders
(completed around 1950). As van Gulik thought the story would have more interest to Japanese and Chinese readers, he had it translated into Japanese by a friend (finished in 1951), and it was sold in Japan under the title Meiro-no-satsujin. With the success of the book, van Gulik produced a translation into Chinese, which was published by a Singapore
book publisher in 1953. The reviews were good, and van Gulik wrote two more books (The Chinese Bell Murders
and The Chinese Lake Murders
) over the next few years, also with an eye toward Japanese and then Chinese editions. Next, van Gulik found a publisher for English versions of the stories, and the first such version was published in 1957. Later books were written and published in English first; the translations came afterwards.
Van Gulik's intent in writing his first Judge Dee novel was, as he wrote in remarks on The Chinese Bell Murders, "to show modern Chinese and Japanese writers that their own ancient crime-literature has plenty of source material for detective and mystery-stories". In 1956, he published a translation of the T'ang-yin-pi-shih ("Parallel Cases from Under the Pear Tree"), a 13th-century casebook for district magistrates. He used many of the cases as plots in his novels (as he states in the postscripts of the novels).
Van Gulik's Judge Dee mysteries follow in the long tradition of Chinese detective fiction
, intentionally preserving a number of key elements of that writing culture. Most notably, he had Judge Dee solve three different (and sometimes unrelated) cases in each book, a traditional device in Chinese mysteries. The whodunit
element is also less important in the Judge Dee stories than it is in the traditional Western detective story, though still more so than in traditional Chinese detective stories. Nevertheless, van Gulik's fiction was adapted to a more Western audience, avoiding the supernatural and religious traditions of Buddhism and Daosim in favour of rationality.
Robert van Gulik studied Indisch Recht (Dutch Indies law) and Indologie (Indonesian culture) at Leiden University from 1929 until 1934, receiving his doctorate for a dissertation on the horse cult in Northeast Asia. Though he made his career in the Dutch
diplomatic service, he kept up his studies. During his life he wrote twenty-odd essays and monographs on various subjects, mainly but not exclusively on aspects of Chinese culture. Typically, much of his scholarly work was first published outside the Netherlands. In his lifetime van Gulik was recognized as a European expert on Imperial Chinese jurisprudence.
Van Gulik was quite interested in Chinese painting. For example, in his book The Gibbon in China (1967), he devotes quite a few pages to the gibbon
-themed paintings in China in Japan, from the Northern Song Dynasty on. Analyzing the portrayal of these apes throughout history, he notes how the realism of the pictures deteriorated as the gibbon population in most of China was extirpated. As an art critic, he greatly admired the portrayal of the apes by such renowned painters as Yi Yuanji
and Muqi Fachang
. Commenting on one of Ming Emperor
Xuande
's works, "Gibbons at Play", van Gulik says that while it is "not a great work of art", it is "ably executed". The lifelike images of the apes make one surmise that the emperor painted from the live models that could have been kept in the palace gardens.
Judge Dee at Work contains a "Judge Dee Chronology" telling of Dee's various posts, in which van Gulik places the mysteries—both books and short stories—in the context of Dee's career and provides other information about the stories. On the basis of this chronology, the works can be arranged in the following order:
Two books, Poets and Murder and Necklace and Calabash, were not listed in the chronology (which was published before those two books were written); both were set during the time when Judge Dee was magistrate in Poo-yang.
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
) was a highly educated orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
(of the guqin
Guqin
The guqin is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family...
), and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, best known for the Judge Dee
Judge Dee
Judge Dee is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie , magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. The character first appeared in the 18th century Chinese detective novel Di Gong An...
mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is an 18th century Chinese detective novel by an anonymous author...
.
Life
Robert van Gulik was the son of a medical officer in the Dutch army of what was then called the Dutch East IndiesDutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
(modern-day Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
). He was born in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, but from the age of three till twelve he lived in Batavia (now Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
), where he was tutored in Mandarin and other languages. He went to the University of Leyden in 1934 and obtained his Ph.D in 1935. His talents as a linguist suited him for a job in the Dutch Foreign Service, which he joined in 1935; and he was then stationed in various countries, mostly in East Asia (Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
).
He was in Tokyo when Japan declared war on the Netherlands in 1941, but he, along with the rest of the Allied diplomatic staff, was evacuated in 1942. He spent most of the rest of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as the secretary for the Dutch mission to Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's Nationalist government in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
. While in Chongqing, he married a Chinese woman (Shui Shifang), the daughter of an Imperial mandarin (under the Manchu Dynasty). Together they had four children.
After the war ended, he returned to the Netherlands, then went to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the councillor of the Dutch embassy in Washington D.C. He returned to Japan in 1949 and stayed there for the next four years. While in Tokyo, he published his first two books, the translation Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is an 18th century Chinese detective novel by an anonymous author...
and a privately published book of erotic colored prints from the Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. Later postings took him all over the world, from New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, and Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
(during the 1958 Civil War) to The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. From 1965 until his early death from cancer in 1967, he was the Dutch ambassador to Japan.
Judge Dee mysteries
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
van Gulik translated the 18th-century detective novel Dee Goong An into English under the title Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is an 18th century Chinese detective novel by an anonymous author...
(first published in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1949). The main character of this book, Judge Dee, was based on the real statesman and detective Di Renjie
Di Renjie
Dí Rénjié , courtesy name Huaiying , formally Duke Wenhui of Liang , was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor during her reign...
, who lived in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(AD 600–900), though in the novel itself elements of Ming Dynasty China (AD 1300–1600) were mixed in.
Thanks to his translation of this largely forgotten work, van Gulik became interested in Chinese detective fiction. To the translation he appended an essay on the genre in which he suggested that it was easy to imagine rewriting some of the old Chinese case histories with an eye toward modern readers. Not long afterward he himself tried his hand at creating a detective story along these lines. This became the book The Chinese Maze Murders
The Chinese Maze Murders
The Chinese Maze Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China. It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.However, van Gulik's novel is set not in the Tang, but in the...
(completed around 1950). As van Gulik thought the story would have more interest to Japanese and Chinese readers, he had it translated into Japanese by a friend (finished in 1951), and it was sold in Japan under the title Meiro-no-satsujin. With the success of the book, van Gulik produced a translation into Chinese, which was published by a Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
book publisher in 1953. The reviews were good, and van Gulik wrote two more books (The Chinese Bell Murders
The Chinese Bell Murders
The Chinese Bell Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik...
and The Chinese Lake Murders
The Chinese Lake Murders
The Chinese Lake Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik...
) over the next few years, also with an eye toward Japanese and then Chinese editions. Next, van Gulik found a publisher for English versions of the stories, and the first such version was published in 1957. Later books were written and published in English first; the translations came afterwards.
Van Gulik's intent in writing his first Judge Dee novel was, as he wrote in remarks on The Chinese Bell Murders, "to show modern Chinese and Japanese writers that their own ancient crime-literature has plenty of source material for detective and mystery-stories". In 1956, he published a translation of the T'ang-yin-pi-shih ("Parallel Cases from Under the Pear Tree"), a 13th-century casebook for district magistrates. He used many of the cases as plots in his novels (as he states in the postscripts of the novels).
Van Gulik's Judge Dee mysteries follow in the long tradition of Chinese detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
, intentionally preserving a number of key elements of that writing culture. Most notably, he had Judge Dee solve three different (and sometimes unrelated) cases in each book, a traditional device in Chinese mysteries. The whodunit
Whodunit
A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...
element is also less important in the Judge Dee stories than it is in the traditional Western detective story, though still more so than in traditional Chinese detective stories. Nevertheless, van Gulik's fiction was adapted to a more Western audience, avoiding the supernatural and religious traditions of Buddhism and Daosim in favour of rationality.
Other works
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
diplomatic service, he kept up his studies. During his life he wrote twenty-odd essays and monographs on various subjects, mainly but not exclusively on aspects of Chinese culture. Typically, much of his scholarly work was first published outside the Netherlands. In his lifetime van Gulik was recognized as a European expert on Imperial Chinese jurisprudence.
Van Gulik was quite interested in Chinese painting. For example, in his book The Gibbon in China (1967), he devotes quite a few pages to the gibbon
Gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
-themed paintings in China in Japan, from the Northern Song Dynasty on. Analyzing the portrayal of these apes throughout history, he notes how the realism of the pictures deteriorated as the gibbon population in most of China was extirpated. As an art critic, he greatly admired the portrayal of the apes by such renowned painters as Yi Yuanji
Yi Yuanji
Yi Yuanji was a Northern Song Dynasty painter, famous for his realistic paintings of animals. According to Robert van Gulik, Yi Yuanji's paintings of gibbons were particularly celebrated....
and Muqi Fachang
Muqi Fachang
Muqi Fachang was a Chinese Zen Buddhist monk and renowned painter who lived in the 13th century, around the end of the Southern Song dynasty. His surname is thought to be Xue; Muqi was a hao or pseudonym, and Fachang a monastic name. Muqi was perhaps from the city of Kaifeng in Hunan Province....
. Commenting on one of Ming Emperor
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
Xuande
Xuande Emperor
The Xuande Emperor was Emperor of China from 1425 to 1435. His era name means "Proclamation of Virtue".-Biography:...
's works, "Gibbons at Play", van Gulik says that while it is "not a great work of art", it is "ably executed". The lifelike images of the apes make one surmise that the emperor painted from the live models that could have been kept in the palace gardens.
Judge Dee mysteries in order written and published
- Celebrated Cases of Judge DeeCelebrated Cases of Judge DeeCelebrated Cases of Judge Dee is an 18th century Chinese detective novel by an anonymous author...
, translation of the Chinese Dee Goong An (1941–1948) - The Chinese Maze MurdersThe Chinese Maze MurdersThe Chinese Maze Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China. It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.However, van Gulik's novel is set not in the Tang, but in the...
(written 1950, published in Japanese in 1951, published in English in 1956) - The Chinese Bell MurdersThe Chinese Bell MurdersThe Chinese Bell Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik...
(written 1953–1956, published 1958) - The Chinese Lake MurdersThe Chinese Lake MurdersThe Chinese Lake Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik...
(written 1953–1956, published 1960) - The Chinese Gold MurdersThe Chinese Gold MurdersThe Chinese Gold Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book includes a map of the fictional town of...
(written 1956, published 1959) - The Chinese Nail MurdersThe Chinese Nail MurdersThe Chinese Nail Murders is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.-Plot introduction:Judge Dee, and his four helpers, solve...
(written 1958, published 1961) - The Haunted MonasteryThe Haunted MonasteryThe Haunted Monastery is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book contains eight illustrations by the author as well as...
(written 1958–1959, published 1961) - The Red PavilionThe Red PavilionThe Red Pavilion is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book features six illustrations by the author and a map of...
(written 1958–1959, published 1961) - The Lacquer ScreenThe Lacquer ScreenThe Lacquer Screen is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book features fourteen illustrations by the author.-Plot...
(written 1958–1959, published 1962} - The Emperor's PearlThe Emperor's PearlThe Emperors Pearl is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.-Plot introduction:Judge Dee, magistrate of Poo-yang a flourishing...
(1963) - The Monkey and the TigerThe Monkey and the TigerThe Monkey and the Tiger book pairs two unrelated short detective novels written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China...
, short stories (1965) - The Willow PatternThe Willow Pattern (novel)The Willow Pattern is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.As the author says in a postscript, the use of the Willow Pattern...
(1965) - Murder in CantonMurder in CantonMurder in Canton is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book contains twelve illustrations and a map of Canton by the...
(1966) - The Phantom of the TempleThe Phantom of the TempleThe Phantom of the Temple is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book features nine illustrations by the author and a...
(1966) - Judge Dee at WorkJudge Dee at WorkJudge Dee at Work is a collection of detective short stories written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China...
, short stories (1967) - Necklace and CalabashNecklace and CalabashNecklace and Calabash is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book features eight illustrations by the author.Necklace...
(1967) - Poets and MurderPoets and MurderPoets and Murder is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book features eight illustrations by the author along with a...
(1968)
Judge Dee mysteries in internal order
- 663 – Judge Dee is a magistrate of Peng-lai, a fictional district on the northeast coast of China.
- The Chinese Gold Murders
- The Lacquer ScreenThe Lacquer ScreenThe Lacquer Screen is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.The book features fourteen illustrations by the author.-Plot...
- "Five Auspicious Clouds", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- "The Red Tape Murders", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- "He Came with the Rain", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- 666 – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Han-yuan, a fictional district on a lakeshore near the capital of Chang-An.
- The Chinese Lake Murders
- "The Morning of the Monkey", a short story in The Monkey and the Tiger
- "The Murder on the Lotus Pond", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- 666 – Judge Dee, while traveling, is forced to take shelter in a monastery.
- The Haunted Monastery
- 668 – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Poo-yang, a fictional wealthy district through which the Grand Canal of ChinaGrand Canal of ChinaThe Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...
runs (part of modern-day JiangsuJiangsu' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
province).- The Chinese Bell Murders]]
- "The Two Beggars", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- "The Wrong Sword", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- The Red Pavilion
- The Emperor's Pearl
- Poets and Murder
- Necklace and Calabash
- 670 – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Lan-fang, a fictional district at the western frontier of Tang China.
- The Chinese Maze Murders
- The Phantom of the Temple
- "The Coffins of the Emperor", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- "Murder on New Year's Eve", a short story in Judge Dee at Work
- 676 – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Pei-chow, a fictional district in the far north of Tang China.
- The Chinese Nail Murders
- "The Night of the Tiger", a short story in The Monkey and the Tiger
- 677 – Judge Dee is Lord Chief Justice in the imperial capital of Chang-An.
- The Willow Pattern
- 681 – Judge Dee is Lord Chief Justice for all of China.
- Murder in Canton
Two books, Poets and Murder and Necklace and Calabash, were not listed in the chronology (which was published before those two books were written); both were set during the time when Judge Dee was magistrate in Poo-yang.
Selected scholarly works
- A Blackfoot-English Vocabulary Based on Material from the Southern Peigans, with Christianus Cornelius UhlenbeckChristianus Cornelius UhlenbeckChristianus Cornelius Uhlenbeck was a Dutch linguist and anthropologist with a wide variety of research interests. His published work included books and articles on Germanic and Balto-Slavic languages, Sanskrit, Basque, and the Blackfeet language of North American Indians...
. (Amsterdam, 1934) - The Lore of the Chinese Lute: An Essay in Ch'in Ideology (1941)
- Hsi K'ang and His Poetical Essay on the Lute (1941)
- Erotic Colour Prints of the Ming Period (Privately printed, Tokyo, 1951)
- Siddham: An Essay on the History of Sanskrit Studies in China and Japan (1956)
- Chinese Pictorial Art, as Viewed by the Connoisseur (Limited edition of 950 copies, Rome, 1958)
- Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from ca. 1500 B.C. Till 1644 A.D. (1961). (In spite of its titillating title, this book deals with the social role of sex, such as the institutions of concubinage and prostitution.)
- The Gibbon in China: An Essay in Chinese Animal Lore (Leiden, 1967)
External Links
- Janwillem van de WeteringJanwillem van de WeteringJanwillem Lincoln van de Wetering was the author of a number of works in English and Dutch. He was particularly noted for his detective fiction, his most popular creations being Grijpstra and de Gier, a pair of Amsterdam police officers who figure in a lengthy series of novels and short stories...
; Robert van Gulik: Zijn Leven Zijn Werk; Loeb, Amsterdam, ISBN 90-6213-899-3 (Hardback, First edition 1989) - Janwillem van de Wetering; Robert van Gulik: His Life His Work; Soho Press, Inc.; ISBN 1-56947-124-X
- C.D. Barkman, H. de Vries-van der Hoeven; Een man van drie levens (A man of three lives); Forum, Amsterdam, ISBN 90-225-1650-4 (1993)
- John Thompson's collected anecdotes on van Gulik's Guqin artistry
- Judge Dee website
- The Dutch language Rechter Tie website