''The Chinese Lake Murders'' is a ''

gong'an Gong'an County () is a county in southern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan to the south. It is under the administration of Jingzhou City. History During the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms The Three King ...

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves t ...

novel written by

Robert van Gulik Robert Hans van Gulik (, 9 August 1910 – 24 September 1967) was a Dutch orientalist, diplomat, musician (of the guqin), and writer, best known for the Judge Dee historical mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century ...

and set in

Imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

(roughly speaking the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

). It is a fiction based on the real character of

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 ...

(

Ti Jen-chieh Di Renjie (630 – November 11, 700), courtesy name Huaiying (懷英), formally Duke Wenhui of Liang (梁文惠公), was a Chinese politician of Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, twice serving as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian. He was one of ...

or Di Renjie), a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

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. This book was originally written by Robert van Gulik sometime between 1953 and 1956. Like its predecessor, ''

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 an ...

'' 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 ''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 Renji ...

'' 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 A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...

or "flower boats". The murders seem to be related but just how they are connected is a mystery. The whole investigation turns into a maze of political intrigue, sordid greed, and dark passions. Han-yuan was also the setting for another story ''The Morning of the Monkey'', a short novel in ''

The Monkey and the Tiger ''The Monkey and the Tiger'' book pairs two unrelated short ''gong'an'' detective novels written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang dynasty). Both stories are fictions based on the real character of Judge De ...

''.

Literary significance and criticism

"The murder of Almond Blossom on the Flower Boat, while Judge Dee is being entertained, is preceded by a confusing chapter of pseudo-supernatural terror. The rest is a good gangster story: lowlifes and blondes translated into Chinese. Only the judge and his three loyal goons are original and freshly entertaining".Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. ''A Catalogue of Crime''. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989.

References

External links

* 1960 novels Gong'an novels Harper & Brothers books Judge Dee Michael Joseph books Historical mystery novels Novels set in the 7th century Novels set in the Tang dynasty {{1960s-hist-mystery-novel-stub