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 24-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 24 Summary: “What Happened to the Old Doctor of Literature; A Thief in the Night Makes a Strange Discovery”
In Huang-hua Village, Warden Ho Kai and Sergeant Hoong go to the doctor’s house to convey the judge’s request. The doctor declines, as he has decided to live in seclusion, devoting his time and efforts to his literary studies and his students.
While talking to the scholar, the warden notices “a young man of about 25” who is “tall and slender” (172) with regular features exiting the room that is adjacent to Mrs. Djou’s bedroom on the other side of the wall.
After hearing the sergeant’s report, Judge Dee decides to go to the village himself. He has devised a plan to discover if there is a secret passage between the two houses. Ma Joong will pretend to be a thief so he can enter and search the young man’s room. He then will pretend to be captured so that the judge’s men can enter the doctor’s house.
Ma Joong successfully breaks into the unknown youth’s room and finds a floor segment that is slightly raised under his sleeping couch. However, he is unable to figure out how to open the trapdoor and accidentally creates a lot of noise. This causes the household to realize that there is thief on the premises, but Ma Joong escapes successfully.
Chapter 25 Summary: “A Great Ado Is Made About Arresting a Burglar; The Ruse Succeeds, and Ma Joong Catches his Man”
The warden pretends to arrest Ma Joong and takes him into the doctor’s house. Doctor Tang is willing to be lenient with the thief, as he had not actually stolen anything. Warden Ho Kai, however, insists that “the thief” must confess. At this point the young man intervenes. It becomes apparent that his name is Hsu Deh-tai and that the house belongs to his family. After his father relocated to the south, he gave the property to the doctor on the condition that he take young Hsu as his student.
At this point Sergeant Hoong reveals that they are investigating Bee Hsun’s murder and that Hsu will be taken to the tribunal. Doctor Tang protests vehemently, but he is also manhandled by the constables and taken to the hostel where Judge Dee is staying.
The judge goes to Doctor Tang’s house and discovers a clever mechanism that silently opens the trapdoor in Hsu’s room. Since it is already late, they decide to postpone further investigation until the following day.
Chapter 26 Summary: “A Bookish Gentleman Gets an Unpleasant Surprise; A Secret Passage Supplies the Key to the Mystery”
The following day Judge Dee talks with Doctor Tang. The scholar affirms that no one in his household has done anything wrong. Hsu is his best student, so the doctor accuses the magistrate of being too rash.
After talking to the scholar, Judge Dee questions Hsu Deh-tai, but the young man pretends not to know anything. He reminds the judge that his family is old and influential, hoping to intimidate the official. Even when confronted about the trapdoor back at the Tang residence, Hsu continues to deny his guilt. Ma Joong goes into the passage and comes out in Mrs. Djou’s room, then returns to the doctor’s house through the front door. Everyone is astonished.
Chapter 27 Summary: “A Depraved Nobleman at Last Confesses to His Guilt; An Adulterous Woman Persists in Her Innocence”
Back at the tribunal the following day, the judge tells Hsu to confess, but the young man believes that his high social station will defend him and refuses. The judge then orders 50 lashes with a thin rattan. The student continues to believe that the judge will relent and release him after the beating, but Judge Dee is adamant and orders the great torture, which involves a wooden contraption in the form of a cross. Hsu is secured to it, kneeling with his back to the support beam and his hands stretched to the side. Two guards then place a heavy wooden beam in his lap and press down, causing his knees to be squeezed. The student screams and eventually passes out. After he is brought back to consciousness, the judge uses kind words to elicit a confession.
Hsu admits that he began an adulterous relationship with Mrs. Djou after seeing her in the back of her husband’s shop. The beautiful woman told him when to come over to her house when the rest of the family is away. Eventually, she asked him to bribe a carpenter to build them an underground passage. Ultimately, she wanted to marry him and so killed her husband. Hsu had not known of her plan and felt repulsed by her actions, but Mrs. Djou blackmailed him by threatening to confess to everything. She wants to get married to him after the one-year mourning period is over. Hsu no longer loves her, but he does not know how to end the affair.
After hearing the student’s confession, Judge Dee calls for Mrs. Djou. The widow, however, persists in her denial even when she is tortured once more by having her hand and feet joints squeezed by wooden screws.
Chapters 24-27 Analysis
These chapters pick the “Strange Corpse” case back up. With the help of the clues from the judge’s dream, the constables guess that there must be a secret passage. The ruse Ma Joong uses to gain access to Hsu’s room further reveals his adventurous character and enthusiasm for investigative work. The constable’s colorful past is probably one reason why he is so unconcerned with discarding his social status and willing to play the part of a criminal. Like the magistrate, he is more interested in solving the case than preserving appearances.
Hsu’s confession grants the reader a glimpse into the world of the high social class. The young man is clearly unconcerned with the potential repercussions for starting an adulterous affair, which is a grave crime. This suggests that he probably has a habit of using his privilege to satisfy his selfish desires without worrying about consequences.
Hsu’s teacher, Doctor Tang, is similarly painted in an unfavorable light. Another privileged person, the philosopher displays criminal ignorance of his household’s affairs. Even though his scholarship is renowned, he is depicted as an ineffectual teacher and an oblivious human being. Doctor Tang’s character serves as a counterpoint to Judge Dee’s and emphasizes that book learning is insufficient to become a truly good and successful person.
Finally, Judge Dee’s extraction of Hsu’s confession reveals that he possesses a good grasp of human psychology. After treating the young student harshly and causing him great pain through torture, the magistrate changes tactics and addresses Hsu kindly. This is the last straw that causes the nobleman to break and confess his crime. The young man likely would have lasted a while longer if the judge had continued shouting at and scolding him, but the magistrate’s kind words undermine Hsu’s resolution to resist—when the perceived enemy is not behaving in a threatening way, it is natural to relax. In this manner Judge Dee shows that he is adept at using many different techniques and knows when to apply each one to achieve the desired results. He is an able detective who finds leads in unlikely places and also an expert prosecutor.
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