The Lacquer Screen. I had meant my fifth novel The Chinese Nail
Murders to be my last,but my publishers wanted more. I felt I
had to change my formula,and decided to start a new  Judge Dee
Series,where I would use only one of Judge Dee's four lieute-
nants,so as to simplify the action,and to obtain more space
for the delineation of the characters involved in the plot. I
also decided to drop the Chinese-style chapter headings,in two
parallel lines,and to limit the time of action to a few days,to
give more "go" to the story.I wrote this first novel of the New
Judge Dee Series in October-November 1958,and it was published
later without material changes.In the autumn of 1958 I had spent
with my wife and children a brief holiday in Greece,and I
developed the plot of this novel mainly during the long but de-
lightful bus-rides through the charming Greek countryside.The
main source of inspiration was a fine screen of sculpted red
lacquer,dating from the Ming period, which I hadpurchased in
Tokyo in 1949,and which now (1966) still forms part of my col-
lection. The dramatis personae of this novel are limted to 14
persons,and I felt that this time everyone of them was fully
characterized. For pub1ication-history,see the item The Red
Pavilion.
The three years in Beyrouth (1956-59) were productive ones.Be-
sides writing four Judge Dee novels,I corrected and revised the
proofs of my book "Chinese Pictorial Art as viewed by the Con-
noisseur" (published Rome 1958),and typedout the text of my
book "Sexual Life in Ancient China" (published Leyden 1961).I
also wrote and published in Beyrouth my small book "Scrapbook
for Chinese Collectors", Annotated translation of the Shu-hua-
shuo-ling  (publ.Beyrouth 1958),and wrote and published private-
ly my first Judge Dee short-story,entitled "New Year's Eve in
Lan-Fang".I had 200 copies printed,which I sent to friends and
acquaintances on Jan.1 1959,in lieu of New Year's greetings.
This short story is incorporated in Heinemann's collection of
Judge Dee stories,entitled Judge Dee at Work,scheduled for
publication early in 1967.