''The Haunted Monastery'' 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 era, Gong'an County was k ...

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

written by Robert van Gulik and set in

Imperial China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

(roughly speaking the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

). 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 (China), county magistrate and statesman of the Tang dynasty, Tang court. The character appeared in the 18th-century Chinese detectiv ...

(

Di Renjie Di Renjie (630 – November 11, 700), courtesy name Huaiying (懷英), posthumous name Duke Wenhui of Liang (梁文惠公), was a Chinese politician of the Tang dynasty, Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, twice serving as Chancellor of the Tang dynas ...

), 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 judi ...

and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. The book contains eight illustrations by the author as well as a diagram of the Monastery where the action takes place.

Plot introduction

Judge Dee and his three wives are on their way back from a visit to family in the capital accompanied by the Judge's aide Tao Gan when a terrible storm and a broken axle force the party to take shelter for the night in an isolated Taoist monastery of sinister repute. The wives go directly to bed but the Judge is required to pay a courtesy visit to the Abbot. Judge Dee is a

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

and has a poor opinion of

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

which, like

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, encourages adherents to enter monastic life. He, however, diplomatically keeps his opinion to himself as he endures the feast and mystery play. Thus begins an endless night of murder, mayhem and madness as the Judge, suffering from the beginnings of a head cold, solves the mysterious deaths, punishes the guilty and brings two star-crossed young couples together.

Literary significance and criticism

"Some interesting sidelights on Confucian and Taoist beliefs emerge from this tale of corruption and murder in a monastery, where Judge Dee runs into considerable danger but ends up administering justice in a primitive way. Perhaps because it is short and somewhat huddled, this work does not remain in the memory as one of his best".Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. ''A Catalogue of Crime''. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989.

Publication

Van Gulik found his London publisher Michael Joseph unwilling to publish more than one title a year so he decided to publish ''The Haunted Monastery'' privately by the Art Printing Works in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

in 1961. '' The Red Pavilion'' was also similarly printed that year, '' The Lacquer Screen'' followed in 1962). All three were produced in paperback form with a print run of 2,000 copies. ''The Haunted Monastery'' was finally published in the UK by Heinemann in 1963.

Television adaptation

In 1974 the novel ''The Haunted Monastery'' was produced as a

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

for the ABC network by Gerald Isenberg with the title ''Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders''.Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders
(TV 1974) at IMDb It was filmed with Khigh Dhiegh as Dee and an all-Asian cast (including

Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress, singing, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also perf ...

Keye Luke Keye Luke (; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American actor, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He portrayed Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the 1939–1941 ...

Soon-Tek Oh Soon-tek Oh (, ''O Sun-taek'' – also spelled as Soon-taek Oh or Soon-taik Oh or Soon-teck Oh; June 29, 1932 – April 4, 2018) was a Korean–American actor. He was the voice of Fa Zhou in Disney's ''Mulan'' and the direct-to-video seque ...

, Irene Tsu and

James Hong James Hong (born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. Known as one of the most prolific character actors of all time, he has worked in over 400 productions in U.S. media since the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s. ...

). Writing was credited to

Nicholas Meyer Nicholas Meyer (born December 24, 1945) is an American screenwriter, director and author known for his best-selling novel '' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', and for directing the films '' Time After Time'', two of the ''Star Trek'' feature films, ...

and Robert van Gulik. It was nominated for an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

, for ''Best Television Feature or Miniseries'' in 1975.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haunted Monastery, The 1961 novels Gong'an novels Judge Dee Self-published books Novels set in the 7th century Novels set in the Tang dynasty Dutch novels adapted into films Dutch novels adapted into television shows