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Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An) (Detective Stories) Paperback – Unabridged, June 1, 1976

by Robert van Gulik (Translator)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 181 ratings
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Long before Western writers had even conceived the idea of writing detective stories, the Chinese had developed a long tradition of literary works that chronicled the cases of important district magistrates. These judges held a unique position. As "fathers to the people" they were at once judge and detective, responsible for all aspects of keeping the peace and for discovering, capturing, and punishing criminals.
One of the most celebrated historical magistrates was Judge Dee, who lived in the seventh century A.D. This book, written in the eighteenth century by a person well versed in the Chinese legal code, chronicles three of Judge Dee's most celebrated cases, interwoven to form a novel. A double murder among traveling merchants, the fatal poisoning of a bride on her wedding night, and an unsolved murder in a small town under Judge Dee's jurisdiction — these are the crimes. They take Judge Dee up and down the great silk routes, through clever disguises, into ancient graveyards where he consults the spirits of the dead, and through some clever deduction.
After translating Dee Goong An, Robert Van Gulik continued the adventures of Judge Dee in fiction he wrote himself. This, however is the only place where you can find the originals of Judge Dee, the venerable Sergeant Hoong, the treacherous Ma Joong, and the other members of Dee's detective force. As the first publication of Dee Goong An in the United States, this edition makes these cases accessible for the first time.
While the cases are superb for reading, they also show the Chinese system of law enforcement and legal proceedings (which are quite different from Western forms). Van Gulik has provided a thorough introduction and appendix with much information on Chinese detective novels, the Chinese system of justice, and particularly relevant aspects of Chinese law that play a part in these stories.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Dover Publications
  4. Publication date
    June 1, 1976
  5. Dimensions
    5.4 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0486233375
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0486233376
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (June 1, 1976)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486233375
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486233376
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 181 ratings

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Robert Van Gulik

Robert Van Gulik

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4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
181 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

doc peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars "Personally I am greatly impressed ... by the magistrates' conduct..."
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
Robert Van Gulik wrote several books featuring the T'ang dynasty judge (who served as investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury in criminal cases) Dee, _The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee_ an anomaly - here Van Gulik has only translated (and mercifully edited- the original would be two volumes) an 18th century novel loosely based on the real-life person of Dee. Don't let this dissuade you - the story and Van Gulik's preface - are superb.

Reading the preface is critical. I'm so glad I did (I typically don't), as Van Gulik explains not only the numerous differences between Chinese mysteries and Western mysteries (most significanly is the supernatural element: as in _Hamlet_, ghosts implicate their nefarious ends, and in a brief interlude written in the form of a play) In his translation and editing, however, many of the elements common to Chinese mysteries have been edited out (moralizing lectures, voluminous end notes and long biographies of characters and the like) making the novel flow much more smoothly to western readers. Even with these accomodations, the cases give a detailed sense of what the criminal justice system was like in T'ang China (618 - 907) and what the daily life of a magistrate must have been like as well as a glimpse of the various strata of Chinese society. Towards these ends, there are three mysteries here, the crimes investigated more or less simultaneously: a double-murder of silk merchants, a crime of passion, and the death of a bride on her marriage night.

The mysteries themselves are excellent - each is different in solution and character, and Dee is fascinating to witness as he pits his considerable intellect against the wrong-doers. For fans (like myself) of a good detective story, _The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee_ off something unique and different that is wholly enjoyable. Sinophiles and those interested in medieval China will also find much to like here as well. Highly recommended, as are those mysteries written by Van Gulik featuring the intrepid Judge Dee.
11 people found this helpful
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Patto
5.0 out of 5 stars "This insignificant person" loved this book
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2013
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I love the way complainants and accused alike kneel before the judge, referring to themselves as "this insignificant person," knocking their heads on the floor. The ancient Chinese justice system is fascinating, and we get an intimate picture of it with these three cases.

Celebrated Cases is a fairly literal translation of the eighteenth-century novel Dee Gong An, based on cases of the real-life Judge Dee, who served as regional magistrate in the Tang Dynasty.

Van Guilik's translation was so popular, he was encouraged to write Judge Dee mysteries of his own, which are equally authentic and entertaining. The whole series is a delight, and this book is a great place to start. Van Guilik's fun introduction orients the reader nicely as to how things worked in ancient China.

Judge Dee handles three difficult cases in the same time period, each quite different and requiring different approaches. One of the cases could cost the judge his life if he gets it wrong. Magistrates paid the ultimately penalty if an innocent person died under torture. Torture was used routinely by magistrates to exact confessions!

There are some very un-Western elements in these tales. For example, the judge gets some supernatural help with his investigations. But for the most part the Judge's great success arises from carefully examining crime scenes, gathering information from neighbors and associates of victims, using clever ruses and making brilliant deductions.

I do especially enjoy Judge Dee's frequent tea breaks - and the exotic martial arts techniques used by the Judge's lieutenants.
4 people found this helpful
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ceigna
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun detective stories but somewhat iffy translator
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2014
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This book fondly reminds me of the Judge Bao drama series I used to watch as a kid. As some may know, both Judge Dee and Judge Bao are celebrated judges in ancient China. While most of their cases have been retold with supernatural elements, they are still historical figures and some of the cases may have been real events that were heavily embellished through centuries of retelling. This book goes through three of Judge Dee's cases and all three of them are very entertaining. I won't go into details about the cases but I will say that fans of Chinese detective stories will enjoy this book. I don't really read English mystery novels, so it's a bit hard for me to compare the two. But the obvious difference is that Judge Dee freely uses horrendous torture to obtain confessions (as the cover of the book shows). There are also supernatural elements used to solve crimes instead of hard evidence (though those are sometimes used too). For those that are interested in ancient Chinese penal code, the book also has nice footnotes on subjects that might baffle readers new to Chinese detective novels.

As far as the translation goes, I kind of wonder how good van Gulik's English is. There are at least two instances where I was completely taken out of the story by his word usage. At one point in the book, someone talked about not letting a suspect "out of his eyes". I'm assuming he meant "out of his sight"? At another point, he uses a double negative to describe someone. It was really jarring. Those instances aside, I'm always just happy when Chinese works get translated into English. I just wish they were of better quality! That said, while van Gulik's translation is serviceable, it makes me hesitant to try his other Judge Dee books.
One person found this helpful
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Louis Manne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction for those who have no background in Chinese history
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2023
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Easy read and great writing style. I will purchase the entire series
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Amazon カスタマー
5.0 out of 5 stars Great attractive book
Reviewed in Japan on October 26, 2016
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Exciting stories about A great Judge in Chinese Tang Dynasty. This is one of the most amazing detective novels I have ever read, including the Sherlock Holmes. And you can learn more about the life style in ancient China. Maybe you will also see that there is almost no change in the human nature in the past thousands of years. Is there a hope for human beings?
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Splendida storia gialla cinese
Reviewed in Italy on April 8, 2014
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I gialli cinesi non sono come i nostri; ad esempio, il colpevole si conosce da subito ed il gusto sta nell' ammirare l' intelligenza del giudice (l' investigatore) nello scoprire il colpevole. In questo assomigliano più al Tenente Colombo che a C.S.I., tanto per intenderci.
A differenza di Colombo, però, Ci sono dozzine di personaggi, i giudici sono inflessibili e vendicativi, e fantasmi, sogni rivelatori e elementari soprannaturali abbondano (non mi risulta a Los Angeles sia così).
Il gusto per il macabro anche è molto presente; le torture sono molto dettagliate.
Van Gulik, brillante orientalista e diplomatico, ha saputo "trasformare" la storia per renderla più appetibile a noi Occidentali. La sua prefazione va letta attentamente; chiarirà molti dubbi.
Nel complesso quindi divertente, affascinane, anche se forse non la più grande storia gialla mai scritta.
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Agatha Moos
5.0 out of 5 stars Super Buch!
Reviewed in Germany on January 20, 2013
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Der Cover gefällt mir nicht deswegen habe ich eine geknickte ausgabe gerne gekauft. Der Inhalt is genau so gut wie jeder andere ausgabe. Good Reading Copy!
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gazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Judge Dee or Di or Ti
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2012
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The Original Story of Judge Dee/di/ti the famous 7th century Chinese judge who centuries later is revived in this book. Van Gulik, a Dutch scholar found it in Japan before WWII and translated it -faithfully it is said- and was inspired to write many novels with the same protagonist.
Van Gulik died while still young, and then a French writer, Lenormand, took up this line. The novels by Van Gulik and Lenormand are most interesting, and my only objection is that they go somewhat soft on the real Chinese trials -in this novel Judge Dee starts the investigation by having a suspect or witness have "100 strokes with the thick bamboo", a method of questioning not always guaranteed to extract the truth.
Also, the punishment of the criminals at the end of the book is a bit gory by today's standards and one can not help having some sympathy for the murderous widow, a real character with strong passions not at all cowed by the severe Judge.
2 people found this helpful
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Francine Celie Chase
5.0 out of 5 stars un livre étonnant
Reviewed in France on May 12, 2011
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S'agissant de la qualité de l'envoi et du produit, j'ai été entièrement satisfaite.
Le livre est remarquable et pour l'apprécier, il est indispensable de lire l'introduction qui familiarise le lecteur occidental au style de roman policier tel que conçu par les auteurs chinois.
2 people found this helpful
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