cases compiled in 1211 A.D.; cf. my translation entitled 'T'ang-yin-pi-shih, Parallel Cases from under the Peartree, a 13th century manual of Jurisprudence and Detection' (Sinica Leidensia Vol. X, Leiden 1956), page 177, Case 66- B. Another brief version is found in the famous 16 th century collection of crime stories
The plot of the girl with the severed head is a quite common one in old Chinese crime stories; cf., for instance, my translation of the
developments and partly in order to show how surprisingly 'modern' old Chinese plots can be.
The exposure of the three monks who falsely reported the theft of a golden statue, in Chapter VII of the present novel, is based on a story in-the
The 'framework' of the present novel, viz. a tale of a distant town where a local bully has usurped power, also is a common situation in Chinese novels. Sometimes a clever magistrate outwits and deposes the usurper, sometimes it is the usurper who is the hero of the story. He takes over from a corrupt magistrate, and subsequently is officially confirmed in his position by a grateful government.
Finally, the role played by 'Master Crane Robe' in this novel (see Chapter XIX) is a much-chastened version of the 'deus ex machina' found in many old Chinese detective novels; they introduce a supernatural being (sometimes the King of the Nether World himself come down to earth in human shape) which helps the magistrate to solve a baffling crime by means of occult powers. This element is, of course, unacceptable to the modern reader. In the present novel, therefore, I represent Master Crane Robe as a high-minded Taoist recluse, leaving it open as to whether the clues Judge Dee discovered during their conversation were the result of a lucky accident, or of the master's inside knowledge of Governor Yoo's affairs, or, again, of the master's unusual mental powers. I chose as background of their conversation the contrast between Confucianism and Taoism. As is well known, Confucianism and Taoims are the two basic ways of thought that have dominated Chinese philosophy and religion ever since approximately the 4th century B.C. Confucianism is realistic and very much of this world, Taoism is romantic and wholly unworldly.
Judge Dee, as an orthodox Confucianist scholar-official, venerates the Confucianist Classics which attach supreme importance to such accepted moral values as justice, righteousness, benevolence, duty, etc. Master Crane Robe, on the other hand, advocates the Taoist principle of the relativity of all accepted values, and a life of non-action jenseits vom Guten und Bosen', in complete harmony with the primordial forces of nature. These two conflicting views are epitomized in the couplet of Governor Yoo about the worm and the dragon. This couplet I quoted from a Buddhist work on Ch'an (Japanese: Zen) philosophy. The Ch'an sect of Buddhism often comes very close to Taoism.
R. H. VAN GULIK
[1]
[2] See 'The Chinese Bell Murders'.
[3] In the novel itself all Chinese names are transcribed in such a way, that they can be easily pronounced. In this Postscript, however, I use the regular system of transcription used in most English sinological publications.