A Strange Case of Nine Murders
novel written by Wu Jianren
A Strange Case of Nine Murders (C: 九命奇冤, P: Jiǔmìng Qíyuān, W: Chiu-ming ch'i-yüan) is a 1906 Chinese murder mystery novel by Wu Jianren (Wu Woyao). Douglas Lancashire and Edel Lancashire's English translation was published in 1998.
Plot
The Liang and Ling families were originally relatives during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, but they became enemies due to feng shui issues. The Ling family abused their power and allowed their followers to set fire to the Liang family, killing eight people. They also bribed the government to make the Liang family lose the case. Finally, the Liang family went to Beijing to file a complaint. Emperor Yongzheng sent an imperial envoy to investigate the case openly and secretly, and finally redressed the Liang family. The work uses ancient stories to attack the corrupt officials of the time, but it affirms the supreme ruler and shows a reformist tendency. The novel uses flashbacks and is greatly influenced by foreign literature.
Analysis
Gilbert Fong, the author of "Time in Nine Murders: Western Influence and Domestic Tradition", published in The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century, documented shifts in time.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “A Strange Case of Nine Murders” is novel written by Wu Jianren. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Strange, Case and Nine, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “novel written by Wu Jianren” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10878722. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1906 and 1998.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “A Strange Case of Nine Murders” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.