The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
A Review
I've been developing a greater interest in China which will be represented in a couple of reviews upcoming, and I wanted to open that series with a book of more general interest: a piece of Chinese detective fiction the “Dee Goong An" , or Cases of Judge Dee as translated and annotated by Robert van Gulik.
Chinese detective fiction has a long history, with police procedural manuals and accounts being documented all the way back to the Qin dynasty. Some of the best known characters, based sometimes on historical figure, have featured in stories going back to the Tang dynasty. Our particular Judge Dee Jen-djieh was one such historical statesman during the Tang dynasty, roughly contemporaneous to the reign of the famous female Emperor Wu Zetian.
(Note: I will be using the romanization of van Gulik for almost all names)
This particular volume of the Judge's adventures is set when he was a local magistrate in Chang-ping, and covers three difficult cases the judge was confronted with which overlapped one another in time and covered a wide selection of Chinese society, from bandits and peasants to the households of a former prefect and a doctor of Chinese classics.
The text is quite ably and readably rendered from an 18th century original by Robert van Gulik. He maintains a clarity of diction without sacrificing the savor and character of his Chinese text, so far as my inexpert reading can discern, being myself unfamiliar with Chinese language. His introduction is scholarly and thoughtful, providing much helpful information about imperial Chinese criminal procedure, culture, and the genre tropes of Chinese detective fiction. He has also appended helpful notes and bibliography for further reading to the end of the text for the interested student, though much of this is necessarily a bit dated.
As regards the three mysteries themselves, the Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, the Case of the Strange Corpse, and the Case of the Poisoned Bride, each concurrently investigated case is full of intrigue and lively interest. The characters and interactions are traced sparsely, but with swiftly moving suspense that keeps the reader engaged. The inexorable pursuit of justice by the honorable Judge is full of pathos for the wronged, though perhaps the attitude of harsh justice towards wrongdoers, both suspected and actual, may be shocking to a western reader.
The Chinese judge is expected to perform in many roles, not only as the judge but the detective, overseer of torture and execution, and the civil magistrate in charge of overseeing taxes and other legal matters. He is judge, jury, and executioner in one, his behavior only governed by his own rectitude and by the equally harsh treatment he can receive from his superiors should he be found wanting in his duties.
The Chinese detective novel also adds some interesting flavor to the genre hy dabbling in the supernatural. Spirits, immortals, dreams,and divination, a staple to Chinese life for millenia, also find their place in the novel, as the wronged ghost of a victim gives vital information, and case cracking oracles are dispensed to the detective in his dreams at the local temple.
The judge is aided in his duty by a colorful cast of characters, former bandits and conmen as well as his childhood servant and confidant, Sergeant Hoong, who plays an admirable Watson to his chief's Holmes. This group dynamic is also reminiscent of such modern detectives as Perry Mason, Nero Wolfe, and Mattlock, with their able bands of assistants.
The stories and their environment are quite satisfying, and the translators erudite information supplies answers to any of the alien cultural features the reader might encounter. A very enjoyable read, and a potentially useful guide to further investigation into the genre.