Only a literary historian could tell us whether Earl Biggers wrote the first English-language mysteries featuring a Chinese detective. All we care about is that he did, and so was born Charlie Chan.
Charlie is much more famous as a movie figure than as a character in Biggers' novels. The movies have survived (and are being released in collection after collection), but the books have not. They are available, but only to those who want to dig for them. And most would agree, I think, that they simply cannot compete with modern fiction. The movies seem to succeed, to the extent they do, because we are far more tolerant of film than we are of the written word. We'll watch anything that moves. My brother once made a film (his only) by clicking the Movie button on his still camera, and walking back and forth in front of the camera. Years later, I'm still thinking about that film—I wonder what he meant by it.
Biggers created a model that was closely followed by John Marquand with his Mr Moto stories (which we are crediting as being of Japanese culture but that are more often about pre-WWII China than about Japan). The main story involves an American male who gets involved in a situation in some Asian context, and there's usually a blonde around, too. The Asian detective makes inscrutable but brilliant appearances, and the mystery of his existence only heightens that involving the story of the Westerner.
Biggers died in 1933, but his creation only got huge after that, especially with the films starring Peter Lorre.
Lisa See created her Chinese Inspector Liu Hulan stories while researching other aspects of her partially Chinese roots. Inspector Liu is a "red princess," a daughter or granddaughter of historically influential Chinese Communist Party members. I asked a Chinese friend about the existence of such a class, and she only knew of ganbu zidi, "children of Party members," which isn't quite the same thing. Whether valid or not, it's easy enough to accept. And this back story gets special significance because her status allowed her parents to send her to the US when that was not politically correct, to keep her from being harmed by the vicious political movements of the 1970s. And that's also where she met her American love interest, a lawyer who ends up moving to China when she cannot bring herself to move from China.
Ms See is not currently writing the Liu Hulan stories, having graduated (I'm sure she feels) into real literature, where she has certainly made a fine showing (with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, as well as the even better Peony in Love). We'll wait patiently for Inspector Liu to return to her proper duties, but we'll be looking elsewhere in the meantime.
Qiu Xiaolong is one of those wonderful cases where a Chinese person finds himself in the United States (or Britain) and wants to write books—in English. I hope you know the work of Ha Jin, who unfortunately has not yet turned his talents to mystery writing, but Qiu, too, is doing wonderfully in his adopted language and genre (he'd rather be writing Chinese poetry). He has created the character of the Shanghai police detective Chen Cao, who has to deal with the realities of modern Chinese politics in addition to his genuine devotion to justice and the Chinese way. Qiu has wisely kept Inspector Chen single, as the occasional female contact adds a little spice to the developing story. For stability, we have the wonderful (very Chinese) relationship between his junior partner and his wife. We get it all, and we don't even have to go there.
Diane Wei Liang is another Chinese writer who is writing in English. After an academic career in the United States, she resides in the UK with her husband and children, and is writing full time. The Eye of Jade is an impressive beginning, and introduces us to a singular young woman making her living as a private detective in China. The book reflects much of the life of Ms Liang, and will probably remain the most personal book in what we hope is a long-lived series. The second in the series has evidently been published in the UK, and is due in the States next year.
There are undoubtedly several more authors we can add to this list as we discover them. In the meantime, you won't go wrong reading these folks. And you'll hungrily await the next book...
Michael Broschat, Aug 2008