"Judge Dee at Work" was planned as th eighth and final volu-
      me of the New Series,and indeed my last novel.However,Heine-
      mann pointed out to me that there was still a large demand for
      more Judge Dee stories,and expressed the hope that I would
      try to find again a new formula,for a new New Judge Dee Se-
      ries.I gave this idea much thought in Tokyo,in the beginning
      of 1966.I reflected that there was little new to be said about
      Judge Dee's four lieutenants;but the judge himself still had
      many dramatic possibilities.I decided I would write a few more
      novels where he appeared all alone,just as in The Night of the
      Tiger. According to that formula I wrote in the course of
      1966 two novels for the new New Judge Dee Series,viz.
      Necklace and Calabash, and Poets and Murder,which were accepted
      by Heinemann for publication in 1967.I am glad Heinemann sug-
      gested to me to go on writing these novels,
      
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       for I have come to realize that in the course of the past
      15 years this work has become an integral part of my life,as
      necessary to me as my scholarly research.Without scholarly
      work,I could not have continued my diplomatic career,where one
      deals exclusively with matters of temporary significance;scho-
      larly research offers a welcome refuge,for there everything
      one does has permanent value,even one's mistakes,for these
      will enable other workers to do better.However,if one takes
scholarly work seriously,one has to be a slave of the facts,and
strictly control one's imagination.While writing fiction,on the
other hand,oneis the undisputed master of the facts,and one may give
the reins to one's imagination.Therefore the writing of fiction has
become an indispensable third facet of my work,a relaxation that
keeps my interest in diplomatic and scholarly activities alive.