A good description of Judge Dee’s later life will be found in chapters 37-41 of Lin Yutang’s book Lady Wu: A True Story, published by Heinemann in 1957. There his name is transcribed Di Renjiay.
The plates I drew in the style of sixteenth century Chinese illustrated blockprints, and they represent, therefore, costumes and customs of the Ming period rather than those of the Tang dynasty. Note that in Judge Dee’s time the Chinese did not wear pigtails; that custom was imposed on them after 1644 A.D. when the Manchus had conquered China. The men did their hair up in a top-knot, they wore caps both inside and outside the house. They did not smoke; tobacco and opium were introduced into China only many centuries later.
—ROBERT VAN GULIK, 1961
About The Author
Robert Van Gulik was born in the Netherlands in 1910. He was educated at the Universities of Leyden and Utrecht, and served in the Dutch diplomatic service in China and Japan for many years. His interest in Asian languages and art led him to the discovery of Chinese detective novels and to the historical character of Judge Dee, famous in ancient Chinese annals as a scholar-magistrate. Van Gulik subsequently began writing the Judge Dee series of novels that have so captivated mystery readers ever since. He died of cancer in 1967.
Robert Van Gulik
The Judge Dee Mysteries
The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
The Chinese Maze Murders
The Chinese Bell Murders
The Chinese Lake Murders
The Chinese Gold Murders
The Chinese Nail Murders
The Haunted Monastery
The Red Pavilion
The Lacquer Screen
The Emperor’s Pearl
The Monkey and the Tiger
Murder in Canton
The Phantom of the Temple
Judge Dee at Work
Necklace and Calabash
Poets and Murder
A Chronology of the Judge Dee Books
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:
663 A.D. – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Peng-lai, a district in the Shantung province on the northeast coast of China.
The Chinese Gold Murders
"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
The Lacquer Screen
666 A.D. – 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 novel in The Monkey and the Tiger
The Haunted Monastery (Judge Dee, while traveling, is forced to take shelter in a monastery.)
668 A.D. – Judge Dee is the magistrate of Poo-yang, a fictional wealthy district through which the Grand Canal of China runs (part of modern-day Jiangsu 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, visiting Paradise Island in the neighboring Chin-hwa district
The Emperor's Pearl
Poets and Murder, visiting neighboring Chin-hwa
Necklace and Calabash, visiting Rivertown and the Water Palace
670 A.D. – 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 (672 A.D.)
"Murder on New Year's Eve", a short story in Judge Dee at Work (674 A.D.)
676 A.D. – 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 novel in The Monkey and the Tiger
677 A.D. – Judge Dee is Lord Chief Justice (President of the Metropolitan Court) in the imperial capital of Chang-An.
681 A.D. – Judge Dee is Lord Chief Justice for all of China.
Murder in Canton, visiting 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.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Red Pavilion
Copyright © 1961 Robert H. Van Gulik
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