From Baker Street to Beijing

There aren't many English aristocrats who can claim to have more than four million followers on China's Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo, but one man has achieved all this and more. Despite his popularity, some have accused this particular individual of overshadowing and influencing China's history over the last century. Some even claim he has been more of a source of distraction, rather than entertainment.

He is of course Sherlock Holmes, the intrepid London detective created by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who first appeared in books more than a century ago. Whether you identify with his Hollywood persona as Robert Downey Junior's smarmy-faced, brutally violent nut job in films directed by gangster glorifier Guy Ritchie or in his latest revival in the BBC TV series as a tortured, high-functioning sociopath, he is an indisputable hit among young Chinese crime fiction lovers.

The traditionally erudite creation of Conan Doyle, complete with Sydney Paget's illustrations that gave birth to the irrepressible deerstalker hat, is as popular with schoolchildren in London as their counterparts in China.

On Weibo, four million followers of a group simply titled "Fans of Sherlock" discuss everything from the super sleuth's current TV and cinematic outings to his Japanese anime equal Detective Conan. Their speculations run across everything from gay themes presented in Ritchie's films to how Holmes and his investigative colleague Dr John Watson might crack some of China's unsolved mysteries.

It is the distance from the stalwart traditionalism of China's own literature, even today still measured by Outlaws of the Marsh and The Dream of Red Mansions, which seems to have given Holmes greater fandom in Beijing than in his local beat of London.

"Sherlock Holmes is so different from traditional Chinese detectives, who are always very serious and have strong ties to government," said Chen Youjun, professor of Chinese Literature at the Communications University of China.

"Holmes is humorous, observant and charming. The novels he appears in make Chinese readers believe that detectives will actually help the poor and innocent, while catching criminals."

Conan Doyle's logical luminary is believed to be one of the first foreign crime fiction novels translated into Chinese, with abstracts published in Shanghai newspaper Current Affairs in 1896. Admittance of foreign influence on culture in China is a rarity, but if anyone could pull it off it's the pipe-puffing detective from Baker Street.

"Of course, translations of Sherlock Holmes stories have influenced Chinese crime fiction a lot. The books really took off at the beginning of the 20th century. It has been suggested that even Lu Xun was a fan of Sherlock Holmes," said Professor Chen, referring to one of China's greatest novelists from the Republican era (1911-1949). He was even willing to attribute some lesser known authors to Conan Doyle's influence.

"Crime fiction writers in China began to combine Sherlock Holmes' style with a traditional Chinese way of writing. In the wake of Sherlock Holmes, China began to see novels such as The Adventures of Hawthorn by Cheng Xiaoqing and The Adventures of Li Fei by Lu Dan'an," he added.

The widespread influence of the Baker Street irregulars' employer may have jazzed up Chinese fiction, but in the course of Holmes taking down his criminal nemesis James Moriarty, he managed to also overshadow the reputation of a real Chinese crime fighter.

As a testament to the London detective, Di Renjie, an official during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) under the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, is today affectionately known as the "Chinese Sherlock Holmes" because of his decisive reasoning, strong sense of justice and infliction of relatively humane, torture-free punishment during a time when sadism was the norm. The reason Holmes is a favorite in China instead of Di Renjie lies in the cult of personality, according to a historian from Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

"Since the reform and opening up, there has been a trend for Chinese readers, especially younger ones, to prefer Western novels over traditional Chinese fiction," said Tan Ping, a professor at Chengdu University and an expert on Chinese ancient history.

"Children like Sherlock Holmes because in films he is portrayed as vigorous, humorous, charming and even adept at boxing. On the other hand, Di Renjie is portrayed in fiction as cold and serious. Children do not warm to this kind of persona, and thus lose interest in the history of China's detectives."

It might be thought that there was a simple solution to Di's fading memory, but it remains impossible to fathom just how the Ministry of Culture culls the selection of available blockbusters chosen among its annual quota of 20 foreign films. When it came to blockbuster Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, due to be released this weekend in China, it appeared the ministry was keen to appease millions of microbloggers eagerly clutching their deerstalker caps and pipes.

"The film is really attractive for Chinese audiences. The plot is full of suspense and unpredictable twists," said student and self-confessed Sherlock Holmes addict, Xi Qi. "I much prefer Holmes to the story of Di Renjie, which is kind of scary and boring. I've read many detective stories and have imagined detectives as trench coat-wearing, cigarette-puffing crime fighters. Holmes embodies this stereotype."

Nearly 125 years after Sherlock Holmes made his debut at 221B Baker Street, it appears the Westminster street's most famous resident has a firm stranglehold on crime fiction fans in China. Until the Middle Kingdom produces its own leather man bag-touting, Lei Feng hat-wearing, magnifying glass-peering equivalent, it appears Holmes' mantle as the most popular detective remains safe.