Robert H. van Gulik

• Born: August 9, 1910
• Birthplace: Zutphen, the Netherlands
• Died: September 24, 1967
• Place of death: The Hague, the Netherlands

Type of Plot: Historical

Principal Series: Judge Dee, 1949-1968

Contribution

Robert H. van Gulik’s stories of Judge Dee are fine examples of the historical mystery novel, which recaptures a bygone era even as it tells a good story. Though his stories are fiction, his training as a scholar and a diplomat enabled him to draw on a vast store of historical material to enrich his mystery novels.

During his diplomatic service in Asian countries, van Gulik noted that even poor translations of Western detective stories were enthusiastically received by Japanese and Chinese readers, so he decided to demonstrate the strong tradition of Chinese detective stories that already existed. He started with a translation of an anonymous eighteenth century novel about Judge Dee, then went on to write several more of his own. He originally wrote them in English, then translated some for serial publication in Japanese journals. Western audiences found them so interesting that he decided to continue writing in English, and he translated his own work. He was thus responsible for introducing the classical Chinese detective story to the West, while the minutiae of the novels and his scholarly notes appended to the novels provide glimpses of the ancient Chinese way of life.

Biography

Born in Zutphen, the Netherlands, on August 9, 1910, to Willem Jacabus van Gulik, a physician, and his wife, Bertha de Ruiter, Robert Hans van Gulik displayed an interest in Asian language and culture as a boy. The Chinese inscriptions on his father’s collection of porcelain intrigued him, and he started studying Chinese in the Chinatown section of Batavia, Java, where his father was serving in the Dutch army. Back in the Netherlands for his college education, van Gulik took up law and languages at the University of Leiden, adding Japanese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Russian to his list of languages. His thesis, Hayagriva: The Mantrayanic Aspect of Horse-Cult in China and Japan, won for him a doctoral degree with honors from the University of Utrecht in 1935. His entry into the Netherlands Foreign Service led to postings in China, India, and Japan. In Chung-king, China, in 1943 he met and married Shui Shih-Fang, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.

Van Gulik’s career as a diplomat flourished, bringing him many awards and honors. Despite the constant moves—which took him to Washington, D.C., the Middle East, Malaysia, Japan, and Korea—van Gulik continued his scholarly activities, researching, translating, editing, and writing. He was a skilled calligrapher—a rare talent for a Westerner—and had some of the other preoccupations of a traditional Chinese gentleman, collecting rare books, scroll paintings, musical instruments, and art objects. Of the breed of scholars who found meaning in small, esoteric subjects, he wrote, for example, two monographs on the ancient Chinese lute, which he himself played, and translated a famous text on ink stones. A talented linguist, historian, and connoisseur, van Gulik published scholarly articles on a variety of topics about traditional Chinese life, ranging from Chinese classical antiquity (c. 1200 b.c.e.-200 c.e.) to the end of the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 c.e.). It was through his mysteries about Judge Dee that van Gulik popularized the specialized knowledge of Chinese life he had gained. Having finally obtained the post of ambassador from the Netherlands to Japan in 1965, he died two years later of cancer in his homeland, on September 24, 1967.

Analysis

In his brief notes explaining the origins of his collection of short stories, Judge Dee at Work (1967), Robert H. van Gulik mused on the importance of each of his three careers: As a diplomat, he dealt with matters of temporary significance; as a scholar, he confined himself to facts of permanent significance; as a mystery writer, he could be completely in control of the facts and give free play to his imagination. It is the interplay of these separate experiences that give van Gulik’s Judge Dee novels a distinct position in the genre of historical mystery novels.

Dee Goong An

A real historical figure who was politically important during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Judge Dee was more popularly remembered as a folk figure, not unlike the Robin Hood of English folk history. The first appearance in English of the famed detective-magistrate Di Renjie (630-700), was in van Gulik’s translation of an anonymous novel of the eighteenth century, Wu Zetian si da qi an, published as Dee Goong An: Three Murder Cases Solved by Judge Dee (1949). The success of his translation led van Gulik to write his own stories. Though he drew on his scholarly background and interest in China to find stories, create accurate details, and provide illustrations, the Judge Dee stories are fictional, based on the Chinese form but adapted to Western audiences.

In his translator’s preface, van Gulik points out five distinct features of Chinese detective stories. Rather than the cumulative suspense that characterizes Western whodunits, Chinese stories introduce the criminal at the beginning, explaining the history of and the motive for the crime. The pleasure for the reader lies in the intellectual excitement of following the chase. Nor are the stories bound to the realistic: Supernatural elements abound, animals and household items give evidence in court, and the detective might pop into the netherworld for information. Other characteristics have to do with the Chinese love and patience for voluminous detail: long poems, philosophical lectures, and official documents pad the purely narrative, resulting in novels of several hundred chapters; then too, each novel may be populated with two hundred or more characters. Finally, the Chinese sense of justice demands that the punishment meted out to the criminal be described in gruesome detail, sometimes including a description of the punishment the executed criminal receives in the afterlife.

The Chinese Lake Murders

These elements are toned down considerably or eliminated entirely in the stories that van Gulik wrote. In The Chinese Lake Murders (1960), for example, the first, short chapter is a diary entry by an official who has fallen in love with the woman who is to be a murder victim. It appears to be a confession of sorts, but one that is so intensely brooding, vague, and mystical that its purport becomes clear only toward the end of the story. Van Gulik thus neatly manages to include a convention while adapting it. Similarly, Judge Dee is often confronted with tales of haunted monasteries, temples invaded by phantoms, mysterious shadowy figures flitting in deserted houses, and other supernatural elements. A sensitive person, the judge is also often overcome by an inexplicable sense of evil in certain locations, which prove to be the sites of brutal torture or murder or burial—information revealed only after the judge has determined the mysteries’ solutions. Although his assistants are sometimes spooked by tales of ghosts and spirits, van Gulik portrays his judge primarily as a rational man suspicious of tales of the supernatural, and indeed most of these otherworldly elements prove to be concoctions fashioned by the criminals for their own convenience.

The van Gulik narrative flow is interrupted only by his own maps and illustrations, which are based on but not exact reproductions of Chinese woodblock prints; though a short poem or an official account may occasionally appear, they are strictly related to the story. Van Gulik retains the characteristic of the anonymous eighteenth century Judge Dee novel in telling three separate stories that prove to be related. Though he borrowed freely from his historical research, combining stories from disparate sources, van Gulik’s considerable inventiveness and storytelling ability are evident in the way he can maintain the reader’s interest in three separate stories. The list of dramatic personae, grouping the characters by story, is provided as a guide and numbers only a dozen or so.

Although the traditional form is skillfully adapted to modern audiences, what remains completely faithful to the original Chinese detective story is the position of the detective figure, who was always a judge. In the pre-communist social structure, the district magistrate had so many responsibilities over the affairs of the citizens in his jurisdiction that his title meant “the father-and-mother official.” The term “judge” may therefore sound slightly misleading, for not only did the district magistrate receive reports of crimes, but also he was in charge of investigating them, questioning suspects, making a decision, and sentencing. The wide powers that he wielded are fully delineated in van Gulik’s novels. Judge Dee is regularly portrayed presiding over the daily sessions, resplendent in his official dark green robe with a black winged hat, his constabulary with whips and truncheons ready at his command. The habit, startling to twentieth century readers, was to treat anyone who came to the tribunal, defendant and complainant, the same way. Both had to kneel, hands behind them, in front of the judge, who could command his constables to whip or otherwise torture any recalcitrant suppliant. Particularly stubborn or arrogant people, such as the artist in The Chinese Maze Murders (1956), could be beaten into unconsciousness. The Chinese system of justice also required that criminals confess their crimes, even if they had to be tortured into confession, and the forms of death were gruesome. Judge Dee’s way of cutting a deal with a criminal sometimes is to offer a more merciful form of death in return for cooperation. People who bore false witness could also be severely punished.

Though he will resort to such powers of his authority when necessary, Judge Dee solves cases because of his careful sifting of evidence, his powers of observation, and his experience and understanding of human nature. A firm upholder of traditional Chinese values, Judge Dee exercises his power wisely. It is the higher purpose of justice that rules his decisions: The main purpose of the law, he realizes, is to restore the pattern disrupted by the crime, to repair the damage as much as possible. So it is that Judge Dee will sometimes start his tenure in a remote district that is in disarray, ruling over a populace made cynical by previous weak or corrupt officials or in the grip of evil men. The process of solving the murder mysteries is intrinsically linked to the process of restoring order and respect for the law and the imperial court.

The Chinese Gold Murders

Also typical of the Chinese detective story are the four assistants to the judge, often recruited from the “brothers of the green woods”—that is, bandits. Though his first and most trusted assistant, Sergeant Hoong Liang, is a faithful family retainer who follows the judge to the various outlying provinces in which the judge wants to work, the other three are reformed men. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai are typical of their ilk in that they are honest men who have been forced by circumstances into a life of crime. They meet Judge Dee when they attempt to rob him on the highway (The Chinese Gold Murders, 1959). Delighted by this rare opportunity to practice his swordsmanship, Judge Dee pulls out a family heirloom, the legendary sword Rain Dance, and is so annoyed when a group of officers comes to his rescue that he claims the highwaymen as his assistants. The two bandits are so impressed that they ask to be taken into his service. The fourth assistant, Tao Gan, also volunteers to join the judge. In contrast to the corrupt officials who caused honest men to become criminals, Judge Dee is thus neatly shown as a just and admirable man. The assistants are very useful in gathering evidence among the populace for the cases, and Judge Dee himself will take to the streets incognito. These reconnoitering missions provide little touches of ribald humor in the novels but also give readers a sense of the very hard life of common people, scrambling for their daily bowl of rice, subject to invasions from the northern borders. After the first five novels, van Gulik decided to simplify the pattern, for a “new” Judge Dee series; he dropped all but one assistant and focused more on character development. In response to popular demand, he brought back Sergeant Hoong, who had been killed in a previous novel.

Other historically accurate characteristics tend to simplify the narrative in predictable ways. Van Gulik toned down the vehement xenophobia of the truly devout Confucianist judge; even so, Judge Dee is openly contemptuous of foreign influences such as Buddhism or Daoism; even when Tatars, Indians, or Koreans are not actually criminals, they are suspect and considered dangerous. He prefers didactic poetry to love songs, and while he may say, in a tolerant spirit, that what people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business, any character who deviates from the norm in his sexual preference or social behavior is suspect.

The author’s scholarly training and interest are evident in other ways. His interest in art is manifest in the number of illustrations that enliven the novels; one, The Phantom of the Temple (1966), is based on the Judge Dee strips he created for Dutch and Scandinavian newspapers. One incident reveals the connection between van Gulik’s scholarship and mystery writing. The Japanese publisher of The Chinese Maze Murders insisted on an image of a female nude for the cover. Seeking to verify his view that the prudish Confucianist tradition precluded the art of drawing nude human bodies, van Gulik discovered instead that an antique dealer had a set of printing blocks of an erotic album from the Ming period, which in turn led him to publish two scholarly books on the subject of erotic art and sexual life in ancient China. Beyond the care for historical accuracy, however, van Gulik’s interest in art is integrally important in the mystery novels. Paintings are important as clues; two contrasting pictures of a pet cat and Judge Dee’s careful observation of the position of the sun in each lead him to a solution in The Haunted Monastery (1962), for example.

In the context of the Western mystery novel tradition, such features as maps, lists, and illustrations are typical of puzzle-plots. Some of the motifs in the Judge Dee novels may be more familiar to the devotee of the tougher kind of hard-boiled novels, however, such as the distinct misogyny that permeates the novels. The custom of poor families selling daughters to brothels and the reverence for sons over daughters are undoubted, if sad, historical facts. Still, the number of beautiful young women who are kidnapped, locked up, beaten, and otherwise tortured and killed in the course of the novels is cumulatively oppressive. By extension, incestuous and sadomasochist characters appear often.

The Chinese Nail Murders

As a detective figure, even with the vast powers he has, Judge Dee is not portrayed solely as the Great Detective, the brilliantly intuitive crime solver who never falters. In The Chinese Nail Murders (1961), he comes perilously close to losing both his job and his head when he orders that a grave be dug up and then cannot find any evidence of murder. In deep despair, he prepares himself for disgrace, saved only by the help of a beautiful woman he has come to admire very much, wistfully recalling his father’s words, that it is very lonely at the top. Such touches of psychological individuality are lightly done. The emphasis on the social role rather than the individual characterizes van Gulik’s style: Phrases such as “the judge barked” and a liberal use of exclamation marks in dialogue suggest the peremptory nature of the detective’s task.

Ever the scholar, van Gulik included a postscript, detailing the origins of his stories, with remarks on relevant Chinese customs. Even without these aids, his Judge Dee stories provide a generalized picture of ancient Chinese life and have repopularized the Chinese equivalent of Sherlock Holmes.

Principal Series Characters:

• Judge Dee , a Chinese district magistrate, is married, with three wives who live together harmoniously, providing the perfect team for his favorite game, dominoes. A fervent Confucian, he administers his many official responsibilities justly, seeking to maintain social order and respect for justice.
• Ma Joong , the son of a junk cargo owner, is trained in boxing and intended for a career in the army. Having accidentally killed a cruel magistrate, he is forced to live as a bandit. Fond of women and drink, he is physically fearless but somewhat superstitious.
• Hoong Liang is a servant in the household of Judge Dee’s father. He insists on following the judge to the provinces. Completely loyal, he in turn has the complete trust of the judge.
• Chiao Tai , from a good family, was also forced to become a highwayman because of a corrupt official. He offers his services to the judge, stipulating only that he be allowed to resign if he finds the man responsible for the death of his comrades. Intelligent, thoughtful, and shy, he is unlucky in love.
• Tao Gan , seeking revenge on the world for the base behavior of his beloved wife, becomes an itinerant swindler. His familiarity with the criminal underworld and his skill with disguises make him an effective fourth assistant. Parsimonious to the extreme, he will scheme for free meals whenever possible.

Bibliography

Hausladen, Gary. Places for Dead Bodies. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000. This study of the settings of mystery and detective novels includes a section on van Gulik’s representation and use of seventh century China.

King, Nina. Crimes of the Scene: A Mystery Novel Guide for the International Traveler. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997. Another reading of setting in detective fiction that analyzes van Gulik’s representation of China.

Lach, Donald F. Introduction to The Chinese Gold Murders, by Robert H. van Gulik. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. This introduction to a reissue of van Gulik’s fourth original Judge Dee tale looks back at the author’s career and his most famous character.

Mugar Memorial Library. Bibliography of Dr. R. H. van Gulik (D.Litt.). Boston: Boston University, 1968. Complete bibliography of van Gulik’s writings, published the year after his death.

Peters, Ellis. Foreword to Historical Whodunits, edited by Mike Ashley. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1997. This discussion of the subgenre by a well-known practitioner treats van Gulik’s work; the collection includes van Gulik’s “He Came with the Rain.”

Sarjeant, William Antony S. “A Detective in Seventh-Century China: Robert van Gulik and the Cases of Judge Dee.” The Armchair Detective 15, no. 4 (1982): 292-303. Overview of the Judge Dee stories and the importance of their historical setting.

Van de Wetering, Janwillem. Robert van Gulik: His Life, His Work. 1987. Reprint. New York: Soho Press, 1998. Biography and critical study that gives equal time to van Gulik’s writing and the personal experiences informing that writing.