Judge Dee at Work

By Robert Van Gulik,

Book cover of Judge Dee at Work: Eight Chinese Detective Stories

Book description

Judge Dee presided over his Imperial Chinese court with a unique brand of Confucian justice. A near-mythic figure in China, he distinguished himself as a tribunal magistrate, inquisitor, and public avenger. Long after his death, accounts of his exploits were celebrated in Chinese folklore and later immortalized by Robert van…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Judge Dee at Work as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This series of exciting short detective stories is set in Imperial China. Judge Dee is a kind of Chinese Sherlock Holmes who ingeniously solves a variety of crimes and mysteries.

Although the story is based over one thousand years ago, from my own experience, the description of a Tang magistrate’s workings also gives a clue as to how China is still governed at the local level.

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