Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries (26 page)
Read Poisoned Bride and Other Judge Dee Mysteries Online
Authors: Robert H. van Gulik
. Modern Chinese writers realise that there may come a time when a demand for detective stories of another type will develop among the general Chinese reading public. Some modern authors have tried their hand at re-writing Chinese detective novels of former centuries in a form that is closer to our Western pattern. The best known example of such an attempt is the
Djiu-ming-chi-yuan
, “The Strange Feud of the Nine Murders,” written by the famous novelist Woo Wo-yao (1867-1910). He took as his basis an 18th century crime story, entitled
Djing-foo-hsin-shoo
, which describes a notorious nine-fold murder that actually occurred in Canton in about 1725. Woo Wo-yao’s attempt is rather interesting and its literary qualities are highly praised by so eminent a modern critic as Dr. Hoo Shih. Thereafter, however, a number of entirely original modern Chinese detective stories were published in China, which presented plots that were much more interesting than that worked out by Woo Wo-yao. It cannot be denied that the writers, just as Woo Wo-yao, were strongly influenced by Western detective stories; they were eager students of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin, which have appeared in more than one Chinese translation. Yet their efforts deserve more attention than they have hitherto received. Although it may take many years before the detectives celebrated in these new stories will replace Judge Bao, Judge Dee, Judge Peng, and the other ancient heroes of detection in the affection of the Chinese people at large, these young writers are paving the way for a new genre of purely Chinese literature.
[Note 2]
. It is a curious fact that “Judge Dee” already was introduced to Western readers more than 150 years ago. The fifth volume of the monumental work
Mémoires concernant l’histoire, les sciences, les arts etc. des Chinois
, published in Paris in 1780, and one of the first Western source books with reliable information on China, gives in the section “Portraits des célébres Chinois” a brief biography of our “Judge Dee,” which bears the title “Ty-Jin-Kie, Ministre.”
[Note 3]
(Translator’s note) According to a very old Chinese belief, the entire universe is maintained and regulated by the unceasing interaction of two primordial forces, one negative, and the other positive. Localities where these two forces are deemed to meet in a harmonious manner, are favourable for human beings to dwell, and when a dead body is buried in such a place, the soul of the deceased shall enjoy great bliss in the Hereafter. In a country like China, where filial piety and ancestor-worship play such a paramount role, the latter fact especially is of supreme importance. Moreover, if the dead are buried in an auspicious place, they will use their influence in the Nether World to benefit their descendants. Geomancy, therefore, is a science in itself, which boasts of an extensive special literature. If a grave is disturbed, this harmonious interaction of the two primordial forces loses its balance, and the peace of the dead is menaced. The ancient Chinese Penal Code therefore mentions the desecration of a grave as a heinous crime, punishable by death. Hence Chinese magistrates are extremely reluctant to order an exhumation. For should it turn out to have been unnecessary, the official who issued the exhumation order risks dismissal from his post, or even heavier punishment. The reader will have to bear these facts in mind while following the further developments of this case.
[Note 4]
(Translator’s note) There exist various forms of divination in China. The one here alluded to is a very popular one, practised in most temples. About fifty numbered bamboo slips of about 1½ foot long, are placed in a vase of about one foot high. The person who wishes to consult fate, first burns incense, and then in a silent prayer states the question he seeks an answer for. Thereafter he takes the vase with the bamboo slips, and raising it before the altar in both hands, he shakes it till one of the slips drops out of the vase. Then the entry indicated by the number of the slip is looked up in the book with answers, and this entry, usually some cryptic verse, is studied to find some indication of the answer to the question which the consultant had in his mind. As in most Chinese poems of four lines, also in oracle verses the last line usually contains the climax.
[Note 5]
(Translator’s note) Chinese boxing is a very ancient art dating from the beginning of our era. In the 4th century when Northern Buddhism entered China, Chinese boxers borrowed much from the corporal and mental discipline of the Indian Yoga school, also making use of Taoist mysticism. It was developed into a highly efficient artof attack and self-defense without weapons, which reached its greatest perfection towards the end of the Ming period in the 17th century.
When the Manchus conquered China, most of the martial arts languished. A few Ming refugees, however, had fled to Japan, and taught this art to the Japanese, who used it as the basis of what is now widely known as
judo
or
jiujutsu
, viz. Japanese wrestling. In order to prevent this art being practised by unworthy persons, its finer points were always kept as a deep secret that was only transmitted orally by the teacher to his favourite pupils. For the same reason the few books that were published on the subject are written in a special technical language, ununderstandable to the outsider; the names of the tricks and stances quoted here are an example of this jargon. In recent years interest in this art has revived in China, and nowadays it finds many eager students among the younger generation.
[Note 6]
(Translator’s note) For the legal points involved, consult the note to this chapter ha Translator’s Postscript.
[Note 7]
(Translator’s note) See the notes to this chapter in Translator’s Postscript.
[Note 8]
(Translator’s note) This is an old Chinese wedding-custom, that is still observed to-day. A number of young men — and at present also girls, friends of the bride and groom, accompany them to the bridal chamber, and there engage for a couple of hours in all sorts of horseplay, trying to make the bride blush, and compelling the groom to drink an unlimited number of toasts.
[Note 9]
(Translator’s note) For the legal points involved in these sentences, the reader is referred to the notes to this chapter in the Translator’s Postscript.
[Note 10]
(Translator’s note) Yen Lee-ben died in A.D. 673, at an advanced age. The Museum of Fine Arts, at Boston, has a painting by him.
Translator’s Postscript Notes
In the translation I have transcribed all Chinese names in such a way that they can be easily remembered, omitting the diacritical marks of the Giles system of romanisation, which would only confuse the general reader. Judge Ti, for instance, I transcribe “Judge Dee.” In this postscript, however, I use the regular system of transcription.
[Note 2]
I have in my collection a novel entitled
Wu-tsê-t'ien-wai-shih
, “Unofficial Records regarding Empress Wu,” 28 chapters in two vls.; the author signs himself with the penname Pu-ch'i-shêng, and it was published in 1902, in Shanghai. This book is plain pornography, written in vulgar language. The modern bibliographer Sun Kai-ti, in his well known catalogue of Chinese novels
Chung-kuo-t'ung-su-hsiao-shuo-shu-mu
(Peiping 1933) lists on page 223 another pornographic novel, with the slightly different title
Tsê-t'ien-wai-shih
; he adds that he has not seen the book itself. I would not be astonished if on further investigation in this field it would turn out that this
Tsê-t'ien-wai-shih
, or some other similar older pornographic novel describing Empress Wu’s complicated love-life, is the source of Part II of the text discussed here.