Bookworm Literary Festival: The World of Judge Dee
Robert van Gulik was a Dutch sinologist and lifelong diplomat. In the 1940s, he published his own translation of an almost-forgotten 18th century detective novel. The main character of the novel was an actual Tang Dynasty judge named Di Renjie. Intrigued by this introduction to Judge Dee, van Gulik was inspired to continue his own detective stories based on him.
Then after lining up the covers with the filler, we began to sew the binding with heavy twine.
Since I had helped Brigid with hers, there was time for me to make one of my own, too. That's how easy this project was--even I could manage it.
I see potential gift-making in our future. The technique is similar to the one shown here, except we only had four holes and we began and ended inside the book.
In order to promote the Judge Dee series (which was originally written in English, interestingly enough), and other cultural cooperation between the Netherlands and China, van Gulik's granddaughter Marie-Anne Souloumiac hosted a few events at the Bookworm's literary festival. Assisted by Beijing artists Gao Ling and Liu Chang, we were taken back to the days of Judge Dee, the Tang Dynasty, when books were first bound in China.
More after the jump
After a short introduction to Robert van Gulik and Judge Dee, we were set loose to bind our own notebooks in the style invented during the Tang Dynasty. The covers and were already prepared for us, heavy cardstock covered with beautiful fabric scraps from a high-end Chinese clothing manufacturer. Myles picked his, but needed to open up the holes in the spine a little.
More after the jump
After a short introduction to Robert van Gulik and Judge Dee, we were set loose to bind our own notebooks in the style invented during the Tang Dynasty. The covers and were already prepared for us, heavy cardstock covered with beautiful fabric scraps from a high-end Chinese clothing manufacturer. Myles picked his, but needed to open up the holes in the spine a little.
Then after lining up the covers with the filler, we began to sew the binding with heavy twine.
Since I had helped Brigid with hers, there was time for me to make one of my own, too. That's how easy this project was--even I could manage it.
I see potential gift-making in our future. The technique is similar to the one shown here, except we only had four holes and we began and ended inside the book.
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