Embroidering a bit on reality perhaps, some people describe the origin of the Judge Dee novels this way: van Gulik was translating the Ch'ing dynasty detective novel Dee Gong An when he decided in a sudden fit of impatience that he might as well write one himself.
或許是受了過多傳奇色彩的影響，有人形容一系列以狄仁傑為主角的偵探小說（Jud-ge Dee）是這樣誕生的：高羅佩伏案翻譯清代小說「狄公案」，寫著忽覺不耐煩，索性之乎也者，自己寫將起來。