I have compiled notes on Detective Dee, Dutch author Robert Van Gulik, Empress Wu Zetian. I have also written summary of each cases in the discussion section of the drama page. Don't forget to read it for more information and details of this series.
Is this true or a mistake on MDL? It's Friday, we shouldn't be getting new episodes. I mean, I am not complaining,…
Two new episodes on 23rd Feb (China Time) i.e Episode 27 and 28....also there is an announcement on youku that an express package will be available for purchase after those episodes air, for all the remaining episodes.
A major revelation is made in episode 25 about Di Renjie's family, in spoiler below.The main focus now according…
* Di Renjie has an elder brother named Di Ying who had been estranged from their father due to difference in their philosophies.
* viewers were not able to get the direct reference till episode 25, when Di Renjie recalls his past after solving the Hollow Gourd case on his was back to Lanfang county.
Flash back scenes previous episodes:
1.Di Renjie's father is angry at an adolescent young boy and asks him to kneel down. Di Renjie's father is unhappy that his elder son, Di Ying has been referring to the manual published by the Heiyan. However Di Ying doesn't feel it was wrong to read the book because from the book he had learned to counteract things where one thing can suppress another. Though it was not medicine it has remarkable effects against poisons. For eg Cypress against Upas, it has remarkable effects against poisons.(earlier Hong Liang referred to someone telling him the way to supress Upas, viewers presumed from the flashback that it was Di Renjie but it turned out it was Di Renjie's elder brother Di Ying who had found the cure for his father back then from Heiyan's manual). Di Renjie's father is angry at his elder son because according to him the book is filled with strange tricks and heterodox methods which can harm a person. Di Ying declares that he has learnt a lot from that book. Di Renjie's father is of the opinion that if a person with ulterior motives gets theri hands on such books they can misuse it and cause harm to people. Later the conflict between Di Renjie's father and his elder son escalates to such an extent that his father asks his elder son to leave his house and disowns his elder son.
2. Another oblique reference of Di Ying was during the case of Red Pavilion, when Di Renjie reunites with the small wood peach sword. The viewers were led to believe that the sword belonged to Di Renjie. Cao An while having a conversation with Hong Liang also asks him why the word "Ying" Had been carved on the sword because as per her Di Renjie would have got his courtesy name 'Huaiying' after enlightenment not when he was a child. It turned out YING on the sword was the name of his elder brother Di Ying.
* All this indicates that probably the leader of Heiyan is Di Renjie's elder brother Di Ying. Di Ying was also the person who had saved Cao An earlier.
A major revelation is made in episode 25 about Di Renjie's family, in spoiler below.
The main focus now according to me is on clashing ideologies rather than the cases... Cases are becoming simpler. In the recent episode the main focus is on emotions versus law.
Since the beginning of the series, Di Renjie has shown absolute belief in the Tang Code to deliver justice and punish the guilty. But what if offenders find a loophole in the legal system? Is vigilante justice the right way to penalize the violators? Laws are made by the people for the people, they are imperfect. However by and large they protect the rights of individuals. Without law and order the society would be in chaos. The only solution is to keep amending the laws.
Click the link below to read the summary of case 6
Possibly if Van Gulik was the one writing it because he wrote after Arthur Conan Doyle but someone please correct…
Probably the dialogue could have been written by Robert Van Gulik, I haven't read his books so can't comment for sure.. But to me it seemed more like the screenwriter of this series 'borrowing' the famous Sherlock Holmes quote. 🤷♀️
Which other cases from the series are closely adapted from RvG's books?In the case 4 - The Rain Master Legend,…
Ah! Ok.... Thanks for the detailed post.
After you mentioned the English Title of the story from which case 4 has been adapted, I found the reference, "He Came With the Rain" - set in the year 663 when Di Renjie was a magistrate of Penglai is a short story included in Robert Van Gulik's collection of gong'an detective short stories "Judge Dee at Work" that features eight chinese detective stories.
So do you know if there is a Real Chinese folklore of such a 'birdman/Rain Master' Or did The author, RvG in his short story make up the folklore just to further the plot of the story?
Which other cases from the series are closely adapted from RvG's books?
In the case 4 - The Rain Master Legend, Do you know if there is an original mythological story of the Rain Master as depicted in the puppet show or was the story in the puppet show a mere fiction to further the plot? I was unable to find any such story online.
More Information about Judge Dee from the novels of Robert van Gulik :
Under the imperial system, magistrates were assigned to posts for three-year terms, and they generally assembled teams of assistants who followed them throughout their careers. Robert van Gulik, in writing his Judge Dee novels, not only borrowed the main character but all four assistants from Dee Goong An. Robert van Gulik used Judge Dee’s different assigned locations to present China’s vast territorial regions and describe their different cultures, neighboring peoples and challenges
The whodunit element is also less important in the Judge Dee stories than it is in the traditional Western detective story, though still more so than in traditional Chinese detective stories.
However, Judge Dee is not infallible, and sometimes he makes mistakes or faces difficulties in his investigations. These examples show that Judge Dee is a human character who has flaws and limitations, but also learns from his experiences and strives to uphold justice.
***********************************************
In the case of the 'Rain Master Legend' we see a more frail, human side of Di Renjie. He wants to save everyone but he is not always successful and that frustrates and pains him. The story of how he wanted to save crickets when he was young but they always ended up dead shows his vulnerable side. He also made mistakes in his reasonings in the beginning of this case, making him flawed and imperfect, prone to making mistakes. However he accepts his errors and learns to live with his limitations all the while striving to serve the law and provide justice to common people.
What are the airing schedule for non members? Someone posted a picture of the schedule but it doesn't seem to…
Hey there.. Are you watching this series?
Yes they have released more episodes for non- members than mentioned in the schedule.. It's better to enjoy the bonus.
Do check out the thread started by me in discussion section, if you are interested in reading more details about the crime novels judge dee's origin, Empress Wu intro and case summaries.
1 
3 
Leaving links below for the notes.
1. Basic information
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2949011&page=1#p2949011
2. All Nine case summaries, starting from case 1.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2957009&page=1#p2957009
Click the link below to read the summary of case 7
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2959315&page=1#p2959315
* viewers were not able to get the direct reference till episode 25, when Di Renjie recalls his past after solving the Hollow Gourd case on his was back to Lanfang county.
Flash back scenes previous episodes:
1.Di Renjie's father is angry at an adolescent young boy and asks him to kneel down. Di Renjie's father is unhappy that his elder son, Di Ying has been referring to the manual published by the Heiyan. However Di Ying doesn't feel it was wrong to read the book because from the book he had learned to counteract things where one thing can suppress another. Though it was not medicine it has remarkable effects against poisons. For eg Cypress against Upas, it has remarkable effects against poisons.(earlier Hong Liang referred to someone telling him the way to supress Upas, viewers presumed from the flashback that it was Di Renjie but it turned out it was Di Renjie's elder brother Di Ying who had found the cure for his father back then from Heiyan's manual). Di Renjie's father is angry at his elder son because according to him the book is filled with strange tricks and heterodox methods which can harm a person. Di Ying declares that he has learnt a lot from that book. Di Renjie's father is of the opinion that if a person with ulterior motives gets theri hands on such books they can misuse it and cause harm to people. Later the conflict between Di Renjie's father and his elder son escalates to such an extent that his father asks his elder son to leave his house and disowns his elder son.
2. Another oblique reference of Di Ying was during the case of Red Pavilion, when Di Renjie reunites with the small wood peach sword. The viewers were led to believe that the sword belonged to Di Renjie. Cao An while having a conversation with Hong Liang also asks him why the word "Ying" Had been carved on the sword because as per her Di Renjie would have got his courtesy name 'Huaiying' after enlightenment not when he was a child. It turned out YING on the sword was the name of his elder brother Di Ying.
* All this indicates that probably the leader of Heiyan is Di Renjie's elder brother Di Ying. Di Ying was also the person who had saved Cao An earlier.
The main focus now according to me is on clashing ideologies rather than the cases... Cases are becoming simpler. In the recent episode the main focus is on emotions versus law.
Since the beginning of the series, Di Renjie has shown absolute belief in the Tang Code to deliver justice and punish the guilty. But what if offenders find a loophole in the legal system? Is vigilante justice the right way to penalize the violators? Laws are made by the people for the people, they are imperfect. However by and large they protect the rights of individuals. Without law and order the society would be in chaos. The only solution is to keep amending the laws.
Click the link below to read the summary of case 6
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2959313&page=1#p2959313
Even I could find the reference of Yu Shi- the God of Rain in Chinese mythology but nothing about him being a birdman.
After you mentioned the English Title of the story from which case 4 has been adapted, I found the reference, "He Came With the Rain" - set in the year 663 when Di Renjie was a magistrate of Penglai is a short story included in Robert Van Gulik's collection of gong'an detective short stories "Judge Dee at Work" that features eight chinese detective stories.
So do you know if there is a Real Chinese folklore of such a 'birdman/Rain Master' Or did The author, RvG in his short story make up the folklore just to further the plot of the story?
In the case 4 - The Rain Master Legend, Do you know if there is an original mythological story of the Rain Master as depicted in the puppet show or was the story in the puppet show a mere fiction to further the plot? I was unable to find any such story online.
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
👆my favorite quote from Sherlock Holmes series.
Di Renjie (episode 18, Red Pavilion) - "when you exclude all the possibilities, the remaining ones, however unbelievable, are the truth. "
👆This dialogue is so Sherlock Holmes.
Did the screenwriter take inspiration from Sherlock Holmes?? 🧐
Click the link to read Summary of case 5, I have only included the details to understand the case but deliberately left out the resolution.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2959311&page=1#p2959311
Case 5 - Red Pavilion - Guest star - Chen Du Ling ---- the actual mystery STARTS FROM Episode 16
More Information about Judge Dee from the novels of Robert van Gulik :
Under the imperial system, magistrates were assigned to posts for three-year terms, and they generally assembled teams of assistants who followed them throughout their careers. Robert van Gulik, in writing his Judge Dee novels, not only borrowed the main character but all four assistants from Dee Goong An. Robert van Gulik used Judge Dee’s different assigned locations to present China’s vast territorial regions and describe their different cultures, neighboring peoples and challenges
The whodunit element is also less important in the Judge Dee stories than it is in the traditional Western detective story, though still more so than in traditional Chinese detective stories.
However, Judge Dee is not infallible, and sometimes he makes mistakes or faces difficulties in his investigations. These examples show that Judge Dee is a human character who has flaws and limitations, but also learns from his experiences and strives to uphold justice.
***********************************************
In the case of the 'Rain Master Legend' we see a more frail, human side of Di Renjie. He wants to save everyone but he is not always successful and that frustrates and pains him. The story of how he wanted to save crickets when he was young but they always ended up dead shows his vulnerable side. He also made mistakes in his reasonings in the beginning of this case, making him flawed and imperfect, prone to making mistakes. However he accepts his errors and learns to live with his limitations all the while striving to serve the law and provide justice to common people.
Click the link to read Summary of case 4, I have only included the details to understand the case but deliberately left out the resolution.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/judge-dees-mystery/122837-basic-information-about-the-cases-and-judge-dee?pid=2959309&page=1#p2959309
Case 5 - Red Pavilion (episode 17-18) airing date 15th Feb... Guest star - Chen Du Ling
Case 6 - Desert Pursuit(episode 19-20) airing date 19th feb... Special guest star -Zhang Ruo Yun
Yes they have released more episodes for non- members than mentioned in the schedule.. It's better to enjoy the bonus.
Do check out the thread started by me in discussion section, if you are interested in reading more details about the crime novels judge dee's origin, Empress Wu intro and case summaries.
Hope you will find the series enjoyable too.