The Chinese Maze Murders: A Judge Dee Mystery (Gulik, Robert Hans, Judge Dee Mystery.)

337 Pages·2007·12.12 MB·english

by  Robert van Gulik

THE CHINESE MAZE MURDERS
Judge Dee Mysteries Available from Chicago:
The Chinese Maze Murders
Judge Dee at Work
The Emperor’s Pearl
The Haunted Monastery
The Lacquer Screen
The Monkey and the Tiger
Murder in Canton
Necklace and Calabash
The Phantom of the Temple
Poets and Murder
The Red Pavilion
The Willow Pattern
THE CHINESE MAZE MURDERS
A Chinese detective story
suggested by three original ancient Chinese plots
by
ROBERT VAN GULIK
With nineteenplates
drawnbytheauthorin Chinesestyle
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
the case of the murder in the sealed room
the case of the hidden testament
the case of the girl with the severed head
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London
Copyright©1957byN.V.UitgeverijW.vanHoeve
TheHague-Netherlands
Allrightsreserved.Originallypublished1956
UniversityofChicagoPressEdition1997
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
09 08 07 6 5 4 3
ISBN-13:978-0-226-84878-5(paper)
ISBN-10:0-226-84878-7(paper)
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gulik,RobertHansvan,1910–1967.
TheChinesemazemurders:aChinesedetectivestorysuggestedby
threeoriginalancientChineseplots/byRobertVanGulik;with
nineteenplatesdrawnbytheauthorinChinesestyle.
p. cm.
“AJudgeDeemystery.”
ISBN0-226-84878-7(alk.paper)
1.DeeJen-Djieh(Fictitiouscharacter)—Fiction. 2.Judges—
China—Fiction. I.Title.
PR9130.9.G8C54 1997
(cid:2)
823.914—dc21 97-1028
CIP
(cid:4)∞ Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimum
requirementsoftheAmericanNationalStandardfor
InformationSciences—PermanenceofPaperforPrinted
LibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39.48-1992.
FOREWORD
AFTER the appearance of my translation of the old Chinese
detective novel 'Dee Goong An'* I was asked to search for
other Chinese novels of that kind. However, such books are
now rather scarce and moreover it proved difficult to find
one that appeals equally to modern Chinese and Western
taste. As a matter of fact, 'Dee Goong An' is an exception.
As a rule style and contents of ancient Chinese crime and
mystery stories differ so much from modern ones that they
are ofslight interest to the present-day Oriental reader, and
even less to the Westerner.
On the other hand old Chinese crime stories contain
many clever plots and much material relating to the detec
tion of crime. I thought, therefore, that it would be an
interesting experiment to write a Chinese-style detective
story myself, utilizing plots found in Chinese stories from
bygone times.
I engaged upon this experiment mainly in order to prove
to present-day Chinese and Japanese authors that it is
possible to write a detective-novel in traditional Chinese
style that yet appeals to the modern Oriental reader. I
thought this all the more worth while since at present the
•
Dee Goong An, threemurdercasessolvedbyJudge Dee. An old Chinese de
tective novel translated from the original Chinese with an introduction
and notes, by R. H. van Gulik, Litt.D.; one illustrated vol. publ.
Tokyo 1949.
v
book-market in China and Japan is flooded with bad
translations of third-rate foreign thrillers, while their own
ancient crime novels are practically forgotten. When I had
completed my English manuscript of 'The Chinese Maze
Murders', it was translated into Japanese by Professor
Ogaeri Yukio, and published in 195 by the Kodan-sha in
I
Tokyo, under the title Meiro-no-satsujin,with a preface by
the well known Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo.
Then I myself prepared a Chinese version, which was
published in Ig53 by the Nanyang Press in Singapore,
under the title Ti-jen-chieh-chi-anB.oth editions were favour
ably received in the Chinese and Japanese press. Encourag
ed by this success I wrote two more 'Judge Dee' novels,
'The Chinese Bell Murders' and 'The Chinese Lake Mur
ders', of which a Chinese and Japanese version is now in
preparation.
Having thus attained my main object, it occurred to me
that also Western readers might perhaps be interested in
this new type ofcrime novel. Therefore I decided to publish
my English text of'The Chinese Maze Murders', an additi
onal motive being that the Chinese element has been intro
duced sooften by Western writers ofdetective stories that I
thought that the reader might be interested in seeing how
it looks in genuine Chinese garb.
For information on the background of the present novel
and the Chinese sources utilized the reader is referred to
my Postscript at the end of the book. Here it may suffice
to say that I borrowed three plots from ancient Chinese
sources, rewriting them as one continuous story centering
round the famous ancient Chinese master-detective Judge
Dee. I retained the typical features ofold Chinese detective
novels, such as the prologue which gives some idea of the
main events of the story itself, the chapter headings in two
parallel lines, the peculiar Chinese device of letting the
VI
detective solve a number of cases simultaneously, etc., and
in general tried to preserve as much as possible Chinese
style and atmosphere.
The scene of my story is laid in Lan-fang, an imaginary
border town ofChina during the seventh century A.D. The
reader willfind aChinese map ofthat city on page xiv ofthe
present publication. The plates were drawn by me in the
style of book-illustrations of the Ming Dynasty.
All the credit of what may be found satisfactory in this
novel must go to the ancient Chinese writers who evolved
the plots. All its shortcomings must be blamed on the
present author.
The Hague, spring 1956
ROBERT VAN GULIK
VII
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
It should be noted that in Chinese the surname, here
printed in capitals, precedes the personal name.
Main Characters:
DEE Jen-djieh, newly appointed magistrate of Lan
fang, a town district on the Northwest border
of the Chinese Empire. Referred to as 'Judge
Dee', or 'the judge'.
HOONG Liang, Judge Dee's confidential adviser and
sergeant over the constables of the tribunal.
Referred to as 'Sergeant Hoong', or 'the ser
geant'.
MAJoong) h li
~ the tree trusted eutenants of
TAO Gan' · ~ Judge Dee
CHIAO 1at
Personsconnectedwith' The Murderin theSealedRoom':
DING Hoo-gwo, a General living retired in Lan-fang.
Found murdered in his own library.
DING Yec, aJunior Candidate of Literature, his only
son. Referred toas'Candidate Ding', or 'Young
Ding'.
Woo Feng, son of Commander Woo of the Board of
Military Affairs in the capital. A Junior Can
didate of Literature and amateur painter.
VIII
Personsconnectedwith 'The Hidden Testament':
Yoo Shou-chien, an ex-Governor who died while
living retired in Lan-Fang.
Mrs. Yoo, neeMEl, the Governor's young second wife.
Mrs. LEE,a painter, friend of Mrs. Yoo.
Yoo Kee, the Governor's eldest son by his first wife.
'ioo Shan, infant son of Mrs. Yoo.
Personsconnectedwith 'The Girlwith theSeveredHead':
FANG, a blacksmith. Later appointed headman of the
constables of the tribunal, and hence referred
to as 'Headman Fang' or 'the headman'.
White Orchid, his eldest daughter.
Dark Orchid, his second daughter.
His son.
Others:
CHIEN Mow, the local tyrant who usurped power in
Lan-fang.
LIU Wan-fang, his eldest counsellor.
Corporal LING, a deserter from the regular army,
reinstated by Judge Dee.
Orolakchee, an Uigur chieftain. His real name is
Prince Ooljin. His false name 'Orolakchee'
means agentor representative.
The Hunter, accomplice of Orolakchee.
Tulbee, an Uigur girl.
OccursinChapterXIX only:
Master Crane Robe, an old recluse.
IX