Robert Van Gulik was born on August 9, 1910 in Indonesia. Since Robert's father was a military man, he spent some time living on the island of Java, Batavia, where he began to develop an interest in Eastern cultures. In 1922, the boy entered one of the gymnasiums in the Netherlands, and also took Chinese lessons and studied Sanskrit.
In 1928 he began writing and publishing articles. In 1934, the young man decided to enter Leiden University to study Japanese and Chinese languages, as well as Indology.
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Robert Van Gulik was born on August 9, 1910 in Indonesia. Since Robert's father was a military man, he spent some time living on the island of Java, Batavia, where he began to develop an interest in Eastern cultures. In 1922, the boy entered one of the gymnasiums in the Netherlands, and also took Chinese lessons and studied Sanskrit.
In 1928 he began writing and publishing articles. In 1934, the young man decided to enter Leiden University to study Japanese and Chinese languages, as well as Indology.
In 1935, he was hired by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was assigned to Tokyo. While working as a diplomat in Japan, he was engaged in scientific activities: Far Eastern painting, literature and music.
In 1942, Robert Van Gulick moved to China and worked as secretary of the Dutch Mission. At the same time he married Shui Shifan, the daughter of a major dignitary of the ancient dynasty. The couple had four children.
From 1945 he was recalled to The Hague, and in 1947 he was sent to Washington, from where he was redirected to Tokyo.
In the countries of the Soviet Union, Robert is known thanks to the detectives, skillfully written by him on the theme of the Chinese narratives about the wise and visionary Judge Dee: “Red Pavilion”, “The Haunted Monastery”, “The Necklace and the Pumpkin-Gorlanka”, “Four Fingers”, “Poets and Killers”, etc. In addition, he is the author of many works and books devoted to, for example, “Sexual life in ancient China”.
The author has only one extra-series work – the thriller “This Day”, published in 1967.
His last work was Gibbon in China, where he collected all references to monkeys in Chinese fine arts and literature. This book is still considered the most fundamental work with gibbon display.
Robert Van Gulick died in 1967 in Zütfen, the Netherlands.