| Inasmuch as the hero of traditional Chinese detective fiction or kung-an was the investigating magistrate, who acted as the representative and agent of the emperor, the ideology of many of the kung-an stories was intimately tied to that of the state. The emphasis of these stories was on the maintenance of social order and harmony. In Western detective fiction and particularly as exemplified in the Sherlock Holmes stories, on the other hand, the hero is the private detective. Justice in these stories stands as independent of the actions of the state. Inspired by the example of the Western detective, the writer Ch'eng Hsiao-ch'ing created the character of Huo Sang, the self-titled Chinese Sherlock Holmes. This paper examines the ways in which the Huo Sang stories are similar to or differ from traditional Chinese detective fiction and the Sherlock Holmes stories they seek to emulate. We conclude that despite its conservative nature, which it shared with other popular literature such as the writings of the so-called Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, the Huo Sang stories promoted certain aspects of modernity that were also espoused by the literature of the May Fourth Movement. |
