In the book Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An), the main character is Judge Dee, a magistrate in China’s Tang dynasty. The roles of a magistrate include, but are not limited to, being a judge, detective and police officer. The book follows three of Judge Dee’s cases, the Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, the Case of the Strange Corpse and the Case of the Poisoned Bride. In order to be a distinguished and powerful magistrate, one must lead with Confucian and Legalist values. Judge Dee is an effective magistrate because he blends both Confucian and Legalist values seamlessly, and is well aware of the Tang dynasty’s social hierarchy.
Firstly, Judge Dee represents Confucian values. One value that he flawlessly portrays is filial piety, or respect for one’s family members, especially elders. He shows leniency to Mrs. Djou because she has to care for her mother in law, admitting:
“a criminal who still has an old parent to support, may be treated with special leniency… When you have confessed, I must, or course, propose the capitol punishment for you. But I shall add a recommendation for clemency, in view of the fact that you still have an old parent to support” (199).
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a clemency is a “disposition to be merciful and especially to moderate the severity of punishment due.” In this example, Judge Dee puts a pause to his Legalist values and shows mercy to a woman who still has to do her duty as a child to their parent, in a
Celebrated cases of Judge Dee, a detective novel which describes crime cases which happened in China during the Tang Dynasty, in the 7th Century. In the book Judge Dee is a well known magistrate of Chang Ping, whom and is famous for solving crime and maintaining justice, particularly amongst common the Chinese People. In the book, Judge Dee is faced with three murders. As Judge Dee begins solving the crimes, the story unfolds slowly and presents historical, social, legal, philosophical and even religious pictures of ancient China. Tang Dynasty China was a period in which society was strongly influenced by Confucianism, due strongly to the previous influence of the Han Dynasty. These
Dee believes she is more cultured than her family. She may have more knowledge about different cultures and religions that she learned in school, but she does not know as much about the family heritage as she thinks she does. For example, when Dee changes her name to “Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo” she destroys important links to her heritage that she will never understand. Her mother tries to explain to her that her name is significant because it belonged to particular beloved ones. However, Dee seems to reject the names of her ancestors, yet she is eager to seize their handmade goods. When Dee realizes she is not going obtain possession of the quilts, she storms out of the house without saying a word. It is apparent that the only reason for her visit is to get the family heirlooms, not to see the house, her mother, or Maggie.
In the book Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An), the main character is Judge Dee, a magistrate in China’s Tang dynasty. The roles of a magistrate include but are not limited to, being a judge, detective, jury and police officer. The book follows three of Judge Dee’s cases, the Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, the Case of the Strange Corpse, and the Case of the Poisoned Bride. In order to be a distinguished and powerful magistrate, one must lead with Confucian and Legalist values. Judge Dee is an effective magistrate because he blends both Confucian and Legalist values seamlessly, and is well aware of the Tang dynasty’s social hierarchy.
Dee is a controlling person who always wanted everything to herself only and don't want anybody to take something more than her. And that appeared when mama said that the quilts which were handmade by their grandma Dee, that she would give it to Maggie, Dee was very angry for that and she wanted to take the quilts herself not because she wanted, just because she don't like anybody to take something more than her and wants everything for herself only. Dee was well educated and didn't liked her mother's and sister's way of living so she traveled and when
The idea of ruling a powerful government based on the principle of using two conflicting ideologies at the same time appeared foreign to most dynasties of early China. In early Chinese times, after the Period of the Warring States, two ideologies emerged: Legalism and Confucianism. Legalism stressed a strong central government that expressed harsh laws while Confucianism had a decentralized government, placing trust in conscientious and learned individuals to work together to solve political issues. These two schools of thought were in stark contrast to each other and, up until the Han dynasty, had never been combined with each other through government policy. The Qin dynasty, for example implemented a strict Legalist government while the
The first reason why Judge Dee was a good magistrate was because he used the value Ren, or humaneness. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Humaneness is defined as “having or showing compassion or benevolence”. A moment when Judge Dee used Ren is when Hoo Dso-bin is kneeling before the judge and begging for his innocence against the murder of Mr. Hua’s daughter. Hoo says that although he was not acting well at the wedding and was saying rude comments, he did not murder Mr. Hua’s daughter. From this, Judge Dee thinks to himself,
The novel, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is set in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). In Chang-Ping, the town located in the Province of Shantung, Judge Dee is a magistrate and the "father and mother" of the people. A Magistrate is a judge, detective, and a peacekeeper who captures criminals and is responsible for reprimanding them. The novel goes through three cases in which Judge Dee solves murders and punishes those responsible. As a Magistrate, you need to have knowledge of Legalism, Daoism, and Confucianism in order to excel. A magistrate has a lot of power which comes with a lot of responsibility and consequences. If a magistrate were to wrongfully execute someone, said magistrate would then be executed which is why the prestigious position requires a certain type. Judge Dee is that type, he is an excellent Magistrate because he has good judgment, knowledge of Confucian, Dao and legalist beliefs and is not afraid to take risks in finding the truth of a mystery.
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
In the book, Judge Dee is torturing Mrs. Djou to confess and she responds, “If you, because of a private grudge, persist in slandering and torturing me, well, they say that the doors of the higher authorities are always open for the persecuted and the oppressed.” (Judge Dee, p.61). This statement shows that the power of the Magistrate is a concern and the government has allowed the people to complain if the Magistrate is using his political powers unjustly. This also shows that Mrs. Djou has the ability to defend herself against being treated unjustly and can go to someone higher than Judge Dee to complain that she has been tortured while she is innocent of the crime accused against her. The opinion of the general public also have a way to get rid of the Judge, “If the populace were to choose to sabotage the administration of a magistrate, taxes would not have been paid on time…. And after a few months a censor would have appeared on the scene, for the purpose of investigation.” (Judge Dee, p.XXII). If the public did not like the Judge they could not obey him and cause him trouble by not paying taxes which would get the Judge in trouble with the potential of him losing his job. This show that the people have some way to remove a Judge that is not fair by either going to the government that is in control of him or by giving him trouble by not paying taxes and
Judge Dee was considered the “Father and Mother Official.” Magistrates function as a judge, jury, prosecutor, and detective. He was the highest power in his district and was in charge of many things. He was in charge of the town, land administration, the tribunal, the bureau for the collection of taxes, the register office, and the public order in the district. Magistrates had to have great moral strength, intellectual power, and refined literati also trained on Chinese letter and arts. Without any of these skills, the magistrate would have failed his job. He would have barely gained any support since these skills were signs of a good leader. The Magistrates were almost miniature monarchs of their own lands. Even though whatever they say is not law, they are able to convict and torture people until they listen. Judge Dee took everything under his control form the detective work to sentences. He used lieutenants and constables to help out, but most work was done single-handedly. No one else I the district has more power than him. A few magistrates in the book even had their own private army for example; the magistrate in Turnip Pass had a garrison to protect the area from criminals. Magistrates are supposed to be truth-seeking men. Judge Dee is obviously truth seeking because he tries to see why the husband died in “The Strange Corpse” even though no one filed a complaint, he did this for righteousness, which is looked for in
Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, are three Chinese ideologies in Classic China that held influence on how society should be, how to achieve order and what made government strong. Anyone that was a practitioner of these three philosophies would have had no idea how the Roman Republic or Empire worked in those regards. It would not be surprising if a Confucian, a Daoist and a Legalist had praise and dislike for how Rome was ran.
In his murder novel, The Willow Pattern, Robert Van Gulik chronicles the work of the semi-fictional historical figure Judge Dee: a statesman and detective of the Tang court. In the midst of a mysterious plague that had overtaken the capital city of Chang’an Judge Dee seeks answers to the murder of two wealthy aristocrats. Over the course of his endeavors, he encounters many attributes and acts characteristic to the Tang Dynasty. DESPITE THE FICTIONAL NATURE OF HIS NOVEL, GULIK PAINTS A HISTORICALLY PLAUSIBLE PICTURE OF THE TANG DYNASTY THROUGH DEPICTIONS OF THE COSMOPOLITAN CULTURE, THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, AND ADHERENCE TO CONFUCIAN, LEGALIST, AND BUDDHIST BELIEFS.
Dee is clearly distancing herself from her mother and sister. She goes so far as to change her name from Dee to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, saying, "I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me." Yet, she wants the quilts that are made by the very people that she despises. Mama is uneducated but not so ignorant as to realize Dee's unrooted, superficial motivation to have the quilts. "For her, heritage is something to be displayed on the coffee table and on the wall." Dee blatantly disrespects her mother's authority and free will.
Q: Han Fei Zi was known for synthesizing and refining the legalist theories and practices that had been developed before him. Explain his views on law, statecraft and power. Comment on the fundamental differences between Legalism and Confucianism.
By altering the sentencing practice of the legal system according to Confucian values of filial piety [xiao] and benevolence [ren], the Qing dynasty reinforced Confucian principles in the law. Although using law as a tool of governing is contrary to the teachings in the Analects. Confucius argued that people became evasive and shameless when law was used as a tool for governing, because law would not be able to prevent all illicit actions, and evil-minded people would always be able to evade the law and avoid the punishments. Therefore, Confucianization of the law, which merged the principles of Confucianism and punishments of the law, became the dominant