54 pages • 1 hour read
AnonymousThe Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1949A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “A hint in a Book Proves Applicable to the Case; A Dream Supplies Hidden Clues to Past Events”
Despite his attempts at meditation, Judge Dee is unable to clear his mind, as he keeps thinking about the two crimes. Finally, he begins to pace around the temple. Suddenly, he sees a book on a side table. He realizes that it contains the answers to the divination sticks used by people to predict their fortune. He shakes the box containing the sticks and draws out number 24. The answer to that number given in the book is a short poem:
“Dawn never is heralded by the hen instead of the cock.
Why did the king take Lady Lee in his favor?
In women’s hearts many an evil scheme is born.
And many are the intimacies on the shared couch” (81).
While puzzling out the meaning of the quote, the judge falls asleep without noticing. The first sign that he is dreaming is the appearance of an old man “with a flowing white beard” (82) who looks familiar, but whom Judge Dee is unable to place. The newcomer takes the judge to an elegant teahouse, whose interior is decorated with lines of poetry and quotes from the Classics. The judge’s attention is caught by a short poem, which puzzles him greatly:
“Seeking the lost traces of the Child, one descends the couch,
And finds the answer to all past riddles.
Asking Yao Foo about the secrets of divination,
It proves hard to discover the man in Szuchuan Province” (83).
The old man tells the judge that he will understand the quote in the future and disappears together with the teahouse. Judge Dee is left standing in a theater. On the stage, a woman of about 30 is lying on a tabouret and juggling a very big jar. A good-looking man approaches her and, looking overjoyed, the woman kicks the jar high into the air. The woman jumps up and catches the jar, greeting the man as her husband. A small girl comes out of the jar and reaches for the man. In that instant, the theater melts away and the old man reappears, leading Judge Dee to an empty field. They come upon a “naked corpse, of a greenish color. A bright red adder came out of one of its nostrils and started crawling towards the judge” (84). The judge becomes frightened and wakes up. He calls out to his assistant, who was sleeping on the steps in front of the temple. Sergeant Hoong brings him some tea. The judge recounts the events of the night, and the two men begin puzzling out the meaning of the divination poem and the dream.
Sergeant Hoong prefers to interpret the divination book poem literally. He assumes it refers to the Bee Hsun murder and concludes that Mrs. Djou must have a lover who visited her in the middle of the night and, when the husband discovered this affair, the widow had somehow killed Bee Hsun. The judge agrees that it is likely that a third person was involved in the murder and decides to set out a watch on the Bee house so they can catch the secret lover when he goes to visit Mrs. Djou.
After interpreting the divination poem to their satisfaction, the two turn to the dream.
Chapter 12 Summary: “A Verse in a Dream Directs Suspicion to a Mr. Hsu; Ma Joong Obtains Important Clues in a Village Inn”
Judge Dee explains to Hoong that the Child mentioned in the poem is the sobriquet of an ancient sage called Hsu. A gentleman who had lived close to the sage had had great respect for him and often consulted him before making any big decisions. To demonstrate his admiration for the sage, the gentleman had placed a large couch just for Mr. Hsu, and no one else had been permitted to use it.
After hearing this story, the sergeant concludes that Mrs. Djou’s secret lover must be named Hsu. The two men then attempt to interpret the second half of the poem.
Yao Foo is also a sobriquet referring to the expert on divination Shao Yoong. Since the name of the sage is the same as that of the murderer in the first case, the judge believes that the reference to Szuchuan implies that the runaway criminal is either sheltered by natives of that province or has fled there.
That same evening Ma Joon and Chiao Tai return and report that they heard a group of leather merchants talking about the Six Mile Village murders at a bridge-side inn. The day after the murder the men witnessed a traveling silk merchant pushing a cart. They collided, and the cart was overthrown. The leather merchants noticed that one of the bales inside was raw silk. However, instead of becoming angry, the traveling merchant apologized and left quickly, which roused the leather merchants’ suspicions.
After hearing this story, the two constables went in the direction the merchant with the cart had moved. They witnessed a person with a cart arguing with local farmers on the side of the road and decided to follow him. This man went to Divine Village, which is a large trading center. However, the village is outside of the judge’s district, so the two constables came back to report and receive further instructions.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Judge Dee Himself Sets Out for Divine Village; The Silk Merchant Starts Preliminary Negotiations”
The judge decides to go and entrap the murderer himself. He sets out for Divine Village pretending to be the representative of a famous Peking silk firm who was delayed by sickness and would rather not make the trip all the way to Kiangsu Province, the main producer of raw silk. Once at the village, he contacts the local silk distributor and asks to see what kind of silk is available in the vicinity. The merchant collects samples from everyone in the village and presents them for inspection. Judge Dee examines the available bales and discovers some silk rolls covered with mud. He gets the manager to call for the owner of those bales. The man, Djao, arrives but immediately recognizes Judge Dee as an official. When the judge’s people attempt to apprehend him, he fights them off.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Ma Joong and Djao Engage in a Bout of Wrestling; A Meeting of Two Brothers of the Green Woods”
Ma Joong and Djao are in the middle of a fight when a third person, the village warden, arrives and recognizes Ma Joong. It turns out that Ma Joong and the village warden both used to be “brothers of the green wood” before deciding to reform. After Ma Joong vouches for the warden, who in turn guarantees that Dajo is not a criminal but a silk firm representative, the judge decides to do away with his disguise. The entire group goes back to the hostel, where the magistrate has taken residence.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Djao Gives a Clear Account of the Real Murderer; Judge Dee Allows Mrs. Djou to Return to her Home”
Djao tells them that he had known Shao Lee-huai for a long time. The murderer had at one time been a promising young man and married the daughter of his teacher. However, Shao mistreated his wife, who died of a broken heart.
Djao then retells how he met Shao on the road and how the other merchant told him that Liu had died of sickness. Shao then sold the silk to him for 300 gold pieces. Djao now feels responsible for getting involved in the murder and offers his help in apprehending Shao. He believes that Shao has retreated to the home of his mistress, an “abandoned woman” living in Turn up Pass.
The judge and his men decide that the best course of action is to go back to the city to find information about the location of the pass.
Chapters 11-15 Analysis
The divination book poem and Judge Dee’s dream are the third instance of the supernatural. Both poems provide very specific clues that help solve the two murder cases, even pointing to the actual name of Mrs. Djou’s suspected lover and the manner of their meetings. Based on this information, the judge narrows down his investigations and ultimately solves the crimes.
Judge Dee’s second disguise affords readers a glimpse into the silk trade and the life of traveling merchants. While profitable, trade is also dangerous, as merchants often need to fight off robbers. This is why they tend to travel in pairs or small groups, which helps deter outside enemies but makes it easy for Shao to betray the trust of his colleague, Liu.
Chapter 14 introduces the character of Djao, another traveling silk merchant. He is located in Divine Village, suggesting that his presence is another intervention from higher powers. He is instrumental in arresting Shao, as he can provide key information to his whereabouts and is the only one who can approach the murderer and convince him to leave the safety of the Turnip Pass village.
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