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Judge Dee
Judge Dee, or Judge Di, is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie, county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. The character appeared in the 18th-century Chinese detective and ''gong'an'' crime novel '' Di Gong An''. After Robert van Gulik came across it in an antiquarian book store in Tokyo, he translated the novel into English and then used the style and characters to write his own original Judge Dee historical mystery stories. The series is set in Tang dynasty China and deals with criminal cases solved by the upright and shrewd Judge Dee, who as county magistrate in the Chinese imperial legal system was both the investigating magistrate and judge. Dee Goong An The Judge Dee character is based on the historical figure Di Renjie (c. 630 – c. 700), magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in China, a "folk novel" was written set in former times, but filled with anachronisms. Van Gulik found in the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celebrated Cases Of Judge Dee
''Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee'' (; lit. "Cases of Judge Dee"), also known as Di Gong An or Dee Goong An, is an 18th-century Chinese ''gong'an'' detective novel by an anonymous author, "Buti zhuanren" (Chinese: 不题撰人). It is loosely based on the stories of Di Renjie ( Wade-Giles Ti Jen-chieh), a county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. The novel contains cultural elements from later dynasties, rather than Tang Dynasty China, however. Translation The Dutch sinologist and diplomat Robert van Gulik came across a copy in a second-hand book store in Tokyo and translated the novel into English. He then used it as the basis to create his own original Judge Dee stories over the next 20 years. Van Gulik wrote: :This translation is chiefly a product of the Pacific War years, 1941-1945, when constant travel on various war duties made other more complicated Sinological research impossible. :This novel ''Dee Goong An'' is offered here in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Chinese Lake Murders
''The Chinese Lake Murders'' is a ''gong'an'' historical mystery novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang dynasty). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik sometime between 1953 and 1956. Like its predecessor, ''The Chinese Maze Murders'' it was intended for a Japanese or Chinese audience but he later choose to publish it in English. ''The Chinese Lake Murder'' was written at roughly the same time as ''The Chinese Bell Murders'' but remained unpublished for some years. Plot introduction 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. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Canal Of China
The Grand Canal, known to the Chinese as the Jing–Hang Grand Canal (, or more commonly, as the「大运河」("Grand Canal")), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting in Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC, but the various sections were first connected during the Sui dynasty (581–618 AD). Dynasties in 1271–1633 significantly restored and rebuilt the canal and altered its route to supply their capital. The Grand Canal played a major role in reunifying north and south China. The canal was built by conscripted laborers and connected the Yellow River in the north with the Yangtze River in the south, which made it much easier to transport grain from the south to the centers of political and military power in north China. The total length o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. Historically, it has been a major link on the Northern Silk Road and it stands to become a major hub on the New Eurasian Land Bridge. The city is also a center for heavy industry and petrochemical industry. Lanzhou is one of the top 70 major cities in the world by scientific research output as tracked by the Nature Index. The city hosts several research institutions, including, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou University of Technology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, and Gansu Agricultural University. Notably, Lanzhou University is one of China's prestige universities as a member of the Project 985. History Originally in the territory of the ancient Western Qiangs, Lanzhou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an administrative area in its own right in August 1984. It is the seat of Hotan Prefecture. With a population of 408,900 (2018 census), Hotan is situated in the Tarim Basin some southwest of the regional capital, Ürümqi. It lies just north of the Kunlun Mountains, which are crossed by the Sanju, Hindutash and Ilchi passes. The town, located southeast of Yarkant County and populated almost exclusively by Uyghurs, is a minor agricultural center. An important station on the southern branch of the historic Silk Road, Hotan has always depended on two strong rivers—the Karakash River and the White Jade River to provide the water needed to survive on the southwestern edge of the vast Taklamakan Desert. The White Jade River still provides wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Chinese Maze Murders
''The Chinese Maze Murders'' is a ''gong'an'' historical mystery novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China. It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie - chin: 狄仁傑), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. However, van Gulik's novel is set not in the Tang, but in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), with society and customs depicted in the book reflecting this period. This was the first of the fictional mystery stories written by Robert van Gulik. It was based on three actual cases from Chinese criminal investigations. The author, having written the story in English, had it translated by a Japanese friend (Professor Ogaeri Yukio) into Japanese and it was sold in Japan under the title "Meiro-no-satsujin" in 1951. Then the author translated the book into Chinese himself and it was published by the Nanyang Press in Singapore in 1953. Finally Van Gulik published the English-language vers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is a consistency of the characteristics of people, plot, objects, and places seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is relevant to several media. Continuity is particularly a concern in the production of film and television due to the difficulty of rectifying an error in continuity after shooting has wrapped. It also applies to other art forms, including novels, comics, and video games, though usually on a smaller scale. It also applies to fiction used by persons, corporations, and governments in the public eye. Most productions have a script supervisor on hand whose job is to pay attention to and attempt to maintain continuity across the chaotic and typically non-linear production shoot. This takes the form of a large amount of paperwork, photographs, and attention to and memory of large quantities of detail, some of which is sometimes assembled into the story bible for the production. It usually regards factors both within the scene and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judge Dee At Work
''Judge Dee at Work'' is a collection of ''gong'an'' detective short stories written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang dynasty). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a county magistrate and statesman of the Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ... court, who lived roughly 630–700. The book features eight illustrations by the author. The book also has a postscript where the author places all the novels and stories into a coherent timeline for his semi-fictional character. Overview Judge Dee, a magistrate in Imperial China is a crime solver, a detective. In these stories Judge Dee solves a series of un-related crimes from different times in his career. There is no over-all narrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qiu Xiaolong
Qiu Xiaolong (, Chinese pronunciation /tɕʰjoʊː ˌɕjɑʊˈlʊŋ/, American English pronunciation ; born Shanghai, China, 1953) is a crime novelist, English-language poet, literary translator, critic, and academic, who has lived for many years in St. Louis, Missouri. He originally visited the United States in 1988 to write a book about T. S. Eliot, but following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, he remained in America to avoid persecution by the Chinese Communist Party. He has published twelve crime-thriller/mystery novels as part of the Inspector Chen Cao series. These include '' Death of a Red Heroine'', which won the Anthony Award for best first novel in 2001, and '' A Loyal Character Dancer.'' All books follow Shanghai Chief Inspector Chen Cao, a poetry-quoting cop who writes poems himself, and his sidekick Detective Yu. Alongside the plot, the major concern in the books is modern China itself. Each book features quotes from ancient and modern poets, Con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empress consort of the Tang dynasty (as wife of the Emperor Gaozong) and then, after his death, empress dowager (ruling through her sons Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong). Unprecedented in Chinese history, she subsequently founded and ruled as empress regnant of the Wu Zhou dynasty of China from 690 to 705. She was the only female sovereign in the history of China widely regarded as legitimate. Under her 40-year reign, China grew larger, becoming one of the great powers of the world, its culture and economy were revitalized, and corruption in the court was reduced. She was removed from power in a coup and died a few months later. In early life, Wu was the concubine of Emperor Taizong. After his death, she married his ninth son and successor, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Chinese Bell Murders
''The Chinese Bell Murders'' is a ''gong'an'' historical mystery novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik sometime between 1953 and 1956. Like its predecessor, ''The Chinese Maze Murders'' it was intended for a Japanese or Chinese audience but he later chose to publish it in English. As it happened, all three editions came out at roughly the same time. Plot introduction Judge Dee is a newly appointed magistrate to the town of Poo-yang. He has one case left over from the previous judge, a brutal rape-murder of a woman called Pure Jade. She was the daughter of a local butcher named Hsaio who lived on Half Moon Street. The girl's lover stands accused but Judge Dee senses something in the case is not right so he set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhu Xiao Di
Zhu Xiao Di (, born 1958) is a Chinese-American writer. He authored a biographical work, ''Thirty Years in a Red House: A Memoir of Childhood and Youth in Communist China'', which was listed for further readings in MSN encyclopedia under the topic of "Communism" along with a few other books. He also authored a novel ''Tales of Judge Dee'', and 6 collections of essays in Chinese including ''Leisure Thoughts on Idle Books'' (), , , , , and . Background Born in 1958 in Nanjing, China, Zhu Xiao Di is a graduate of MIT with a master's degree in City Planning (1991). He also received a master's degree in American Civilization from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1989. Between 1992 and 1997, he worked at the Center for Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He also worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. as a management consultant between 1995 and 1996. He worked at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University between 1997 and 2012. Publications ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
