The Red Pavilion is a gong'an detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang dynasty).

It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.

Judge Dee, the magistrate of Poo-yang, has an unexpected meeting with the most powerful and famous courtesan on Paradise Island, Autumn Moon.

Only a few hours later, she herself is found dead and Judge Dee is drawn into a web of lies and sad stories in the world of the prostitutes of Imperial China.

Here the local color is heightened by the voluptuous surroundings and the personality of Autumn Moon, the queen of courtesans.