In this episode Laszlo introduced the great Nederlander Robert van Gulik. In his relatively short life van Gulik made a name for himself as a scholar, diplomat and writer. His sixteen novels featuring the "stern but fair-minded" Judge Dee offered his worldwide readership a peak into 7th century Tang China society. Judge Dee was based on the historical person Di Renjie, an important official and minister of state during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. Van Gulik was fascinated with the Chinese "gong'an" detective novel genre of literature and did a lot to popularize it around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices