The Monkey and the Tiger
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- Synopsis
- Judge Dee was a historical person. He was born in the fourth year of the Chen-kuan period of the Tang dynasty, i.e. A.D. 630. He died in A.D. 700. His biography in the Annals of the Tang dynasty states that, during the first half of his long and distinguished official career, when he was serving as district magistrate in the provinces, he solved a great number of difficult criminal cases. Hence he became famous in China as one of the great detectives of former times. He is also celebrated as one of China's great statesmen, for in the second half of his career, after he had been appointed to high office in the capital, he played an important role in the internal and external politics of the Tang Empire. All this is historical fact. The two stories told here, however, are entirely fictitious, and the towns mentioned--Han-yuan, Pei-chow, etc.--have no real existence. It may be added that astronomy is a very ancient science in China, and that there also it is believed that stellar signs influence the life and destiny of man. The end papers show a Chinese zodiac, with an explanation of the Chinese sexagenary cycles. There the twelve signs of the zodiac are arranged around the Two Primordial Forces yin (negative, female, darkness) and yang (positive, male, light) and the Eight Triagrams, pa-kua. The halved circle in the centre portrays the eternal interaction of the dual forces yin and yang (d. the explanation on p. 59 of my novel The Haunted Monastery, published by William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1961). The eight triagrams represent the eight possible combinations of one broken yin and one unbroken yang line.
- Copyright:
- 1965
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 149 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780684167367
- Publisher:
- N/A
- Date of Addition:
- 11/11/08
- Copyrighted By:
- Robert H. Van Gulik
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Literature and Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers
- Submitted By:
- earl schwab
- Proofread By:
- John Immarino
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.