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Soon after taking up his first magisterial post in the godforsaken district of Peng-lai, Judge Dee must look into the murder of his predecessor. His job is complicated by the simultaneous disappearnce of his chief clerk and the new bride of a wealthy local shipowner. "The China of old, in Mr. van Gulik's skilled hands, comes vividly alive again."--Allen J. Hubin, New York Times Book Review "If you have not yet discovered Judge Dee, I envy you that initial pleasure . . . the discovery of a great detective story. For the magistrate of Poo-yan belongs in that select group headed by Sherlock Holmes."--Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times Robert van Gulik (1910-67), a Dutch diplomat and an authority on Chinese history and culture, drew his plots from the popular detective novels that appeared in seventeenth-century China.
First published in the eighteenth century, Dee Goong An chronicles three of Judge Dee's celebrated cases, woven together into a novel. A double murder among merchants, the fatal poisoning of a new bride, and an unsolved murder in a small town — these crimes launch Judge Dee down the great silk routes and even into graveyards to consult the spirits of the dead. With his keen analytical wit, can he discover the killers? First of the Judge Dee books, translated by Robert van Gulik.
Born in Holland in 1910 but raised in Java, Robert Hans van Gulik explored esoteric Buddhism and translated ancient texts, including an authentic Chinese 16th century detective novel, around which he created a fictional series. Based on extensive research, renowned author Janwillem van de Wetering, whose life and career parallels that of his subject, examines van Gulik's life and work.
*Biography of a widely popular author, as well as highly respected Asian scholar; available previously in Dutch and French and now for the first time in English*Based on primary sources such as the personal diary of Van Gulik, as well as recollections of immediate family, colleagues and friends*A must-read for Asian scholars, as well as the many fans of the Judge Dee mystery seriesDiplomat, Asian scholar, author, polyglot, polymath, and a passionate lover of life in all its forms, Robert van Gulik researched and wrote prolifically on a wide range of Asian subects, such as Chinese scroll mounting, sexual life in China, and the Chinese lute: an instrument that he also mastered as a musician. I...
In 'The Haunted Monastery', Judge Dee and his wives seek refuge from a violent mountain storm and are plunged into a bizarre series of interrelated crimes. Three women have been murdered in the monastery; Dee has seen something impossible, perhaps supernatural, and inexplicable events flash forth in the dark tangle of corridors and the Taoist Hell - a hall filled with statuary showing realistically the torments of Hell.
Diplomat, Asian scholar, author, calligrapher, polyglot, polymath, passionate lover of life in all its forms, Robert van Gulik researched and wrote prolifically on a diverse range of Asian subjects, such as--but certainly not limited to--Chinese scroll mounting, sexual life in ancient China and the Chinese lute--an instrument that he also mastered as a musician. In addition to his more esoteric writings, van Gulik achieved world-wide popular fame as the author of a series of mystery novels based on the life of semi-fictional Judge Dee in ancient China. Two former colleagues and close acquaintances of Dr van Gulik have combined their own experiences with recollections of family and other contemporaries, as well as detailed entries in the diaries of the man himself, to provide us with an entertaining and highly readable portrait of a remarkable life. 'This biography is as exciting and abundant as the life of its subject.' Christine Nguyen Thi, Revue Bibliographique de Sinologie, Vol. 15, 1997 (reviewing the French edition).
This book is about the global travels of Judge Dee's stories, popularised by the Dutch author Robert van Gulik in the 1950s and 60s. It investigates the cross-cultural interactions and hybridisation that occurred during the process and afterwards.
In the year 666, Judge Dee, the newly appointed magistrate of the fictional town of Han-yuan, must solve three murders. Han-yuan is an isolated town famous for its floating brothels or "flower boats". The murders seem to be related but just how they are connected is a mystery. The whole investigation turns into a maze of political intrigue, sordid greed, and dark passions.
Judge Dee and his helpers investigate a series of murders despite pressure to solve them quickly.
In 1961 Robert van Gulik published his pioneering overview of "Sexual Life in Ancient China," This edition of the work is preceded by an elaborate "introduction" by Paul Rakita Goldin assessing the value of Van Gulik's volume, the subject itself, and its author. The introduction is followed by an extensive and up-to-date "bibliography" on the subject, which guides the modern reader in the literature on the field which appeared after the publication of Van Gulik's volume. One of the criticisms in 1961 regarded the Latin translations of passages deemed too explicit by Van Gulik. In this 2002 edition all Latin has for the first time been translated into unambiguous English, thus making the full text widely available to an academic audience.