The Lacquer Screen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 University of Chicago Press - 1997 |
|
| Author | Robert van Gulik |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ed Lindlof |
| Series | Judge Dee |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, Detective Novel |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
| Released | 1964 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 181 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-226-84867-1 |
| Preceded by | The Emperor's Pearl |
| Followed by | The Red Pavilion |
The Lacquer Screen is a detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (rougly 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.
The book features fourteen illustrations by the author.
[edit] Plot introduction
In 663, Judge Dee is the young magistrate in the fictional town of Peng-lai. On a visit to a senior magistrate he is shown a beautiful lacquer screen which is mysteriously altered to show a murder scene instead of a love scene. With the senior magistrate convinced he is going insane, a wealthy banker in town does kill himself, or is it murder? Judge Dee and his faithful servant Chiao Tai go undercover and join a gang of robbers to solve the case.
The town of Peng-lai was the setting for other Judge Dee stories including: The Chinese Gold Murders, and three of the short stories from Judge Dee at Work.
