Scholars who pen historical mystery fiction must tread a fine line between being faithful to the materials they research and creating stories and characters that will appeal to contemporary readers. It's by no means an easy undertaking, but when successful, the results can be wonderfully entertaining. One outstanding example is Umberto Eco's best-selling novel "The Name of the Rose," a dark, complex mystery set in a medieval monastery.
Among the ranks of such writers, the late Dutch Sinologist Robert Hans van Gulik stands out for having based his novels on authentic sources. He was able to do so in part because the mystery story, like so many other inventions, originated in China. While posted to the Dutch embassy in Tokyo in 1949, van Gulik published a translation of a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel, "Dee Gong An" ("Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee"), featuring a righteous magistrate who really lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The Chinese novel lacked the sophistication of modern-day whodunits, and van Gulik stated his purpose was merely to encourage Asian authors to revive their traditional mystery genre. As it turned out, van Gulik adopted the book's colorful characters and began cranking out original works, completing 17 (including two novelettes and a short-story collection) before his death in 1967. It's a testament to van Gulik's remarkable skills that his works are still in print 35 years after his death.
While its setting in Heian Period Kyoto is far removed from Tang China, "Rashomon Gate" offers several remarkable parallels with van Gulik's Judge Dee formula. The first thing that struck this reviewer is the language of the book itself. Because its author is not only an admitted admirer of van Gulik, but, like the late Dutch author, also a European who writes in English, the writing style has an almost imperceptibly non-native texture that lends itself perfectly to Asian characters.
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