publication_date necklace and calabash
Chang ' an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history , today known as Xi ' an . Chang ' an means " Perpetual Peace " in Classical Chinese . During the short - lived Xin dynasty , the city was renamed " Constant Peace "; yet after its fall in AD ___MASK44___ , the old name was restored . By the time of the Ming dynasty , the name was again changed to Xi ' an , meaning " Western Peace ", which has remained its name to the present day . Tokyo , officially Tokyo Metropolis , is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures . The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world . It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government . Tokyo is in the Kant region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands . Formerly known as Edo , it has been the de facto seat of government since ___MASK53___ when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters . It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868 ; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo . Tokyo Metropolis was formed in ___MASK48___ from the merger of the former and the . Ancient Rome was an Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC . Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome , it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants ( roughly ___MASK18___ % of the world ' s population ) and covering ___MASK91___ . 0 million square kilometers at its height in AD 117 . Necklace and Calabash is a gong ' an detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China ( roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty ) . It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee ( Ti Jen - chieh or Di Renjie ) , a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court , who lived roughly 630 -- ___MASK21___ . The book features eight illustrations by the author . Necklace and Calabash was the last Judge Dee novel published during van Gulik ' s lifetime . One more book , Poets and Murder was published after his death . Necklace and Calabash is very highly regarded of all the Judge Dee mysteries . The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China ( 206 BC  220 AD ), preceded by the Qin dynasty ( 221  206 BC ) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 AD ). Spanning over four centuries , the Han period is considered a golden age in Chinese history . To this day , China ' s majority ethnic group refers to itself as the " Han people " and the Chinese script is referred to as " Han characters ". It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang , known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han , and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty ( ___MASK72___  ___MASK44___ AD ) of the former regent Wang Mang . This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods : the Western Han or Former Han ( 206 BC  ___MASK72___ AD ) and the Eastern Han or Later Han ( 25  220 AD ). The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law . In ancient Rome , a " magistratus " was one of the highest ranking government officers , and possessed both judicial and executive powers . In other parts of the world , such as China , a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic area . Today , in some jurisdictions , a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court , and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters . In other jurisdictions ( e . g ., England and Wales ), magistrates may be volunteers without formal legal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters . Robert Hans van Gulik ( August ___MASK72___ , ___MASK88___  September ___MASK43___ , ___MASK28___ ) was an orientalist , diplomat , musician ( of the guqin ), and writer , best known for the Judge Dee historical mysteries , the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th - century Chinese detective novel " Dee Goong An ". The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres , historical fiction and mystery fiction . These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author ' s perspective , and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime ( usually murder ). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 20th century , many credit Ellis Peters ' s " Cadfael Chronicles " ( ___MASK2___ - ___MASK74___ ) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery . The increasing popularity and prevalence of this type of fiction in subsequent decades has spawned a distinct subgenre recognized by the publishing industry and libraries . " Publishers Weekly " noted in 2010 of the genre , " The past decade has seen an explosion in both quantity and quality . Never before have so many historical mysteries been published , by so many gifted writers , and covering such a wide range of times and places ." Editor Keith Kahla concurs , " From a small group of writers with a very specialized audience , the historical mystery has become a critically acclaimed , award - winning genre with a toehold on the " New York Times " bestseller list ." Judge Dee ( also , Judge Di ) is a semi - fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie , county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court . The character appeared in the 18th - century Chinese detective and " gong ' an " crime novel " Di Gong An ". After Robert van Gulik came across it in an antiquarian book store in Tokyo , he translated the novel into English and then used the style and characters to write his own original Judge Dee historical mystery stories . The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . It is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization , and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture . Its territory , acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers , rivaled that of the Han dynasty , and the Tang capital at Chang ' an ( present - day Xi ' an ) was the most populous city in the world . Di Renjie ( 630  August ___MASK86___ , 700 ), courtesy name Huaiying (  ), formally Duke Wenhui of Liang (  ), was an official of Tang and Zhou dynasties , twice serving as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian . He was one of the most celebrated officials of Wu Zetian ' s reign .