Chinese Culture The Chinese Lake Murders were written by author, Robert Van Gulik and can be used to learn about pre-modern Chinese civilization. The book was set during the Ming Dynasty in the town of Han-yuan, which is about 60 miles north west of the imperial capital. The novel tells the tale of how Judge Dee, the magistrate (an official responsible for catching criminals as well as sentencing them) of Han-yuan solves crime cases while indulging …showed first 75 words of 557 total…

…showed last 75 words of 557 total…about pre-modern Chinese civilization and culture. Van Gulik's story and other stories are not biographical, although many of the crimes he describes appeared in various Chinese texts. Robert Van Gulik the author of The Chinese Lake Murders was in fact an historian and an expert on Chinese culture. Kevin Reilly, the West and the World: History of civilization (Princeton: Markus Weiner Publishers, 1989). Robert Van Gulik, The Chinese Lake Murders (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1977).