FREE ESSAY ON CELEBRATED CASES OF JUDGE DEE

CELEBRATED CASES OF JUDGE DEE

Sung Yon Kim
Asian Civilization
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
In by reading the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, I gained a perspective of the people and
culture of China. This book showed the analysis of Chinese saw and the background of
Chinese history. 
Judge Dee, during the Tang Dynasty, was a well-known statesman and a magistrate to a town
called Chang-Ping. He was known to be a famous detective, in which he could solve all
crimes. In the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, he is faced with three murders, which
develop throughout the book. First of the three murders was the murder of the two silk
merchants. Second was the sudden death of a young husband, and thirdly was the poisoning
of a bride in her nuptial chamber.
As Judge Dee begins solving the crimes, the story unfolds slowly and shows the reader the
history of China. In the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, Judge Dee lived in the Tang
dynasty. During this period, one can see how the Chinese authoritative views were strict,
the laws and punishment which were enforced, and what the outlook on the Chinese society
was. Authority had a strong hold on their community and the people in the town also
confined in them to help them and solve crimes. The community also knew what the
consequences of causing a crime was and that indeed it was wrong to omit a crime. Judge
Dee and with the help of his associates, begins solving the crime through much
observation and Judge Dee was very clever. He used methods and tools such as, going
undercover, using underground sources, interrogation, and forensic science to solve his
problems. It isn't much different today on how we solve crime in the western world. 
We can see the Asian influence in solving crime matters when Judge Dee uses religion,
ghosts, and dreams to solve his crimes. Bad luck and superstition such as were also
believed. If the dead weren't buried properly the Chinese felt that the dead wouldn't let
the family rest or sleep in peace. In the end of the book you could see that the use of
torture and the methods of execution are more extreme than the western culture. Judge Dee
went to an ancient graveyard to consults the spirit of the dead. This sort of use in the
western civilization would be considered a hoax and very unreliable. Also executing them
punished the offenders who committed the crime at the end. Although execution was harsh
enough, Judge Dee exposed their offenders where all the towns' people could see, and in a
sense the community would be reminded not to offend any crimes. Also from the book you
could see the sense or morality the Chinese had. They mourned the death of their
ancestors and I think Judge Dee felt that he didn't want any indignities left for those
who were murdered. 
The crimes which were committed were all solved but I feel that the consequences at the
end were not fair or justice. You can compare the Chinese ethics such as humiliating the
ones who offended the crime as where in American everyone has the right to appeal and is
innocent till proven guilty. There was no extremity shown in how harsh the torturing
could be. By torturing the guilty, I'm sure it's an efficient way to make one confess but
by torturing the innocent and demand confession, I feel that one would confess to a crime
that they didn't commit because of the pain and torture. 
In reading the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, you can see the historical events that
occurred in the book and you can compare and contrast the Chinese culture to the Western
culture.