Judge Dee Chapter Summary

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In the Chinese detective novel, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, a view into the Chinese judicial system during the Tang dynasty is provided. After reading the novel, one finds that the Chinese judicial system worked in similar but also in different ways compared to modern day judicial systems around the world. In order to notice this correlation, this paper will analyze the responsibilities and measurements the judge had to undergo in order to solve the crimes that occurred in his district. The judge or magistrate during the Tang dynasty had a lot of power, “this government official united in his person the functions of judge, jury, prosecutor and detective” (IX). Judges had full responsibility and authority over all phases of the life of the …show more content…

Judge Dee disguised himself as an itinerant physician and later on as a silk merchant in order to apprehend the double murdered Shao Lee-huai in “The Double Murder at Dawn” case. Judge Dee was also very diligent with the documentations and procedures for his cases. In “The Strange Corpse” case for example, he “had the necessary documents relating to the exhumation filled out” (76). Additionally, Judge Dee also made sure the information he received was as accurate as possible. For example, the grave digger that indicated which one was Bee Hsun’s grave had to impress his thumbmark on a document: “testifying that this is indeed Bee Hsun’s grave. Should there be a mistake, then you will have to bear the consequences” (69). Judge Dee drew up reports of the events that transpired during his investigations to his superiors. Moreover, if the judge believed he made a mistake, he would report it. In “The Strange Corpse” case for example, Judge Dee “described in full detail how he had committed the crime of desecrating a grave, and recommended himself for appropriate punishment” (79). Judge Dee wrote this because he genuinely believed he made a mistake. He believed he had slander an innocent woman and had desecrated Bee Hsun’s body after the autopsy failed to reveal how he

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