''The Emperors Pearl'' is a '' gong'an'' detective 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). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (

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 ...

or Di Renjie), a magistrate 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 court, who lived roughly 630–700.

Plot introduction

Judge Dee, magistrate of Poo-yang, a flourishing walled city on the Grand Canal, is attending the Dragon Boat races accompanied by his three ladies aboard his own official barge. He is mildly annoyed by the intrusions of assorted callers and the loss of a blank domino (he and his ladies are keen players). He is more than annoyed when the sad, sudden death of a young student crewing one of the boats turns out to be deliberate murder. Even more disturbing is the murder of the young Second Lady of a prominent local merchant and collector, which is witnessed by the Judge himself. Obviously very odd things are going on at the deserted villa at the edge of the River Goddess's overgrown mandrake grove. Throw in an apparently cursed Imperial Treasure and a perverted madman and the Judge has his hands full. Poo-yang was the setting for '' The Chinese Bell Murders''. Three other cases – '' Necklace and Calabash'', '' Poets and Murder'', and '' The Red Pavilion'' – took place during his term as magistrate.

Literary significance and criticism

"Whether the reader or the writer is the first to tire of a formula may be argued with the aid of any given example such as this story. The fact remains that the characters, events, and tricks now seem close to played out".Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. ''A Catalogue of Crime''. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989.

References

1963 novels Judge Dee Gong'an novels Historical mystery novels Heinemann (publisher) books Novels set in the 7th century Novels set in the Tang dynasty {{1960s-hist-mystery-novel-stub