The Lacquer Screen
First edition cover | |
Author | Robert van Gulik |
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Series | Judge Dee |
Genre | Gong'an fiction, Mystery novel, Detective fiction, Chinese crime fiction |
Publisher | Art Printing Works, Kuala Lumpur |
Publication date | 1962 |
Media type | |
Preceded by | The Red Pavilion |
Followed by | The Emperor's Pearl |
The Lacquer Screen is a gong'an detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (the early decades of 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 AD.
The book features fourteen illustrations by the author.
Plot introduction
In 663, Judge Dee is the young magistrate in the fictional Chinese town of Peng-lai. On a visit to a senior magistrate Teng in Wei-ping, he is shown a beautiful lacquer screen which is mysteriously altered to show a murder scene instead of a love scene. With the senior magistrate Teng convinced he is going insane, a wealthy banker in town appears to kill himself, though it might be murder. Judge Dee and his servant Chiao Tai disguise themselves to go undercover and join a gang of robbers to solve the case.[1]
The town of Peng-lai was the setting for other Judge Dee stories including: The Chinese Gold Murders, and three of the short stories from Judge Dee at Work.[2]
References
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- Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
- The Chinese Maze Murders
- The Chinese Bell Murders
- The Chinese Gold Murders
- The Chinese Lake Murders
- The Chinese Nail Murders
- The Haunted Monastery
- The Red Pavilion
- The Lacquer Screen
- The Emperor's Pearl
- The Willow Pattern
- Murder in Canton
- The Phantom of the Temple
- Judge Dee at Work
- Necklace and Calabash
- Poets and Murder
- Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)
- Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013)
- Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018)
- Amazing Detective Di Renjie (2004)
- Amazing Detective Di Renjie 2 (2006)
- Amazing Detective Di Renjie 3 (2008)
- Mad Detective Di Renjie (2010)
- Young Sherlock (2014)
- Judge Dee's Mystery (2024)
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