Robert Van Gulik

Robert van Gulik (1910–1967) was a Dutch author, sinologist and diplomat best known for his Judge Dee historical mystery novels. Born in Zutphen, he spent part of his childhood in the Dutch East Indies and later studied Chinese and Japanese languages. His diplomatic career took him to several Asian countries, while his scholarly interests encompassed Chinese art, literature, music and culture. He was also an accomplished player of the guqin, the traditional Chinese seven-stringed instrument.

Van Gulik created his Judge Dee series after translating the eighteenth-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An as Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. His fictional magistrate was inspired by Di Renjie, a seventh-century Tang dynasty statesman who became a celebrated detective figure in later Chinese literature. Beginning with The Chinese Maze Murders, Van Gulik’s novels combine murder investigations with political intrigue and detailed depictions of life in imperial China, often requiring Judge Dee to solve several apparently unrelated cases at once.