Final Witness: The Story of China’s First Crime Scene Investigator - the title drew me in - I was intrigued from the get-go. Who was this Chinese CSI, Song Ci? And why had I never heard of him?
I love crime - fiction and non-fiction. I have an entire bookcase dedicated to it - that is, what I personally own. What have I read would take up many, many more. Even more recently, courtesy of Netflix and SBS (in Australia), I have taken a liking to movies depicting historical China, including the highly entertaining "Judge Dee" series. Needless to say, I was eager to get my hands on this book.
The life of Song Ci of Jianyang, is told against the backdrop of historical events shaping the Chinese empire in the 13th century. Song Ci himself, due to his father's illness, was prevented from taking up an official government post; instead finds himself back home, seeking answers in the hopes of healing his father. A series of local murders, disappearances, violence, government corruption and inaction, sees local seeking our Song Ci for assistance. A lack of knowledge of the law is evident, so he goes in search of such knowledge.
As Song Ci is presented a series of "cases" to solve, he make mistakes along the way, goes in search of more knowledge, develops his skills in assessing crime scenes, and ultimately gets there in the end. And as he does, his reputation increases, and he eventually becomes judicial commission aged 53yo.
This is a very different style of writing which also encompasses quite a bit of history - political, social and legal - as well interspersing the cases studies with an ongoing biography of Song Ci. Chinese society was very structured and protocol must be adhered to which sometimes made the process of solving the crimes rather lengthy.
Once you get used to the flow of the story, it becomes quite an easy read. The stories themselves are fascinating as are the methods of investigation - a far cry from our more modern scientific methodologies. This is well worth taking the time out to read.
further reading:
The First Monographic Works on Forensic Medicine
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