![]() ![]() The more typical Chinese detective stories – the few were written down, as this was a predominantly oral tradition – identified the malefactor at the outset. He produced a translation of a Chinese detective story, the only one he’d found that was written as a mystery, in that it didn’t provide the solution until the end. ![]() After World War II, he was posted to Japan for a four-year tour and, while other diplomats were engaged in studying Chinese post-imperial politics, the Communist Revolution, agriculture, engineering, and whatnot, van Gulik studied the relatively untouched arena of ancient popular culture, including its literature. Van Gulik (1910-1967) took an early academic interest in Asian languages and literature, entering the Dutch foreign service in 1935. The story of how Dutch diplomat Robert van Gulik came to write the 16 murder mysteries featuring legendary Tang Dynasty jurist Dee Jen-djieh – AKA Judge Dee – is almost as fascinating as the novels themselves. ![]()
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