The Willow Pattern (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Willow Pattern


image_caption = University of Chicago Press - 1997
author = Robert van Gulik
cover_artist = Ed Lindlof
series = Judge Dee
genre = Mystery, Detective Novel
publisher = University of Chicago Press
release_date = 1965
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 179 pp (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-226-84875-2
preceded_by = The Monkey and the Tiger
followed_by = Murder in Canton
crime-task-force = yes

"The Willow Pattern" is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.

As the author says in a postscript, the use of the Willow Pattern as a motif in the book was a conscious anachronism. The book features 15 illustrations by the author.

Plot introduction

Judge Dee is now a senior member of the Chinese government and has been appointed the Chief Judge in the Tang capital of Chang-An. One of the cities oldest, and most important aristocratic families becomes the subject of investigation. Three murders are committed and Judge Dee must find the connection.

Literary significance and criticism

"The opening scene carries out the "in medias res" advice: a beautiful young girl in dishabille is arranging an old man's corpse to look like accidental death. The next brings on Judge Dee, in his usual philosophizing mood and flanked by the faithful Chiao Tai as they discuss the plague-stricken, half-deserted city. In the heat of summer, Dee has to discover the motive and agent of three murders, each separate but also related. Typically good Van Gulik."Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. "A Catalogue of Crime". New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8]

References