China
There is some disagreement as to the identity of the first translator of Sherlock Holmes stories into Chinese, but the stories seem to have first appeared in 1896 in the Shanghai newspaper Shiwu Bao, and were a great success. However, the first translated stories were re-written in the style of the Gong’an, a type of crime fiction in which government magistrates both solve criminal cases and dispense justice. One aspect of this style is that the perpetrator, details, and method of the crime is revealed to the reader at the outset of the narrative. The intent was that the story should be cautionary rather than mysterious, and translations in this style often had spoiler titles such as “The Case of the Sapphire in the Belly of the Goose.”
More authentic translations began to emerge, and soon the western style of crime fiction caught on, and Chinese readers embraced both Holmes and the mystery genre, and many Chinese mystery writers emerged. Cheng Xiaoqing (1893-1976) was the most popular author of Chinese detective fiction in the first half of the twentieth century, and translated Holmes stories into both classical and colloquial Chinese, cementing the detective’s popularity.
The Adventure of the Speckled Band.
Beijing: Lingnan Art Publishing House, 1985. 124 p.
The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Beijing: Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 1979. 142 p.
A Study in Scarlet.
Beijing: Lingnan Art Publishing House, 1985. 82 p.
These small graphic novels, printed by various Beijing publishers, were likely intended for sale to Chinese rail commuters.
All the Stories of Sherlock Holmes vol.01 / translated by Shóu Juān.
Shanghai: Zhōnghuá Shūjú, 1936. 143 p. 20th printing.
Contents: A Study in Scarlet.
Sherlock Holmes New Mysteries 6 / translated by Yang Qirui.
Shanghai: Qi Ming Press, Oct. 1940. 245 p.
Contents: The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Sherlock Holmes New Mysteries vol. 03.
Fentian: Fentian Dashu Press, July 10, 1939. 114 p.
This Manchurian Chinese edition was published in Manchuko, a protective country of Japan (1932 - 1945). Fentian was one of largest city of Manchukuo, and now called as Shenyang. The cover has been pirated from the Shanghai edition.
Contents: The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Uyghur
Fu'ermosi zhentan xuan (Sherlock Holmes detective selections)
Wulumuqi: Xinjiang renmin chubanshe, 1982. 633 p.
Uyghur is a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China.
Contents: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles.