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The Philosophies of Judge Dee Essay

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The translated novel Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee tells of a district magistrate of Chang-Ping in the T’ang Dynasty named Judge Dee Goong An, famous for his ability to solve mysterious cases. This is simple enough, except it is immediately evident to the reader that Judge Dee is not just a normal magistrate content with solving a case – it is easy to see that he always digs deeper. His success is unparalleled in the land, his actions laid out without a single corrupt thought or a lax view. What makes Judge Dee so effective? How is he able to look past the most obvious answers to find the one that is correct? It is obvious that he can only do this with the help of various different philosophies. These philosophies provided him …show more content…

Hsu, of course, was the young man who committed adultery and was an accessory to the murder of Bee Hsun, the husband of Mrs. Djou. Instead of a severe punishment for Dr. Tang, Judge Dee orders otherwise, saying “But in deference to your great achievements in the field of scholarly researches, I shall free with this public reprimand, enjoining you henceforth to devote all your time to your own literary studies. You are strictly forbidden ever again to engage in the teaching of young students.” (Van Gulik, pg. 208). Judge Dee respected Dr. Tang’s higher learning status, whereas if it were a normal person the punishment would have been far more severe and painful. Respect for the actions of a person’s elders is evident as well. In the same scene, Judge Dee convicts the student Hsu Deh-tai, who is to be executed by strangulation – however, Judge Dee recognizes the “meritorious services rendered to the State by the said Hsu Deh-tai’s father and grandfather” (pg. 214). This is a subtle example of filial piety, albeit indirect filial piety. A social hierarchy is near-impossible to miss in this novel as well– from the very beginning the reader is notified of the position of Judge Dee and his consequent assistants under him, along with the fact that all of his subjects refer to themselves as “this insignificant person” (pg. 10). They all respect Judge Dee, which shows the Confucian idea of social order. Because of these facts,

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