Tai-Pan (novel)

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**Title** **Tai-Pan**
1982 paperback edition
Author	James Clavell
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Asian Saga
Genre(s)	Historical fiction, Novel
Publisher	Atheneum
Released	1966
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	590 pp
ISBN	NA
Preceded by	Shogun
Followed by	Gai-Jin

This page is about the novel. For other meanings of Tai-Pan, see Tai-Pan (disambiguation).

Tai-Pan is a novel written by James Clavell about European and American traders who move into Hong Kong in 1841 following the end of the first Opium War. It is the second book in Clavell's "Asian Saga".

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The novel begins following the British victory of the first Opium War and the seizure of Hong Kong. Although the island is largely uninhabited and the terrain unfriendly, it has a large port that both the English government and various trading companies believe will be useful for the import of merchandise to be traded on mainland China, a highly lucrative market.

Although the novel features many characters, it is arguably Dirk Struan and Tyler Brock, former shipmates and the owners of two massive (fictional) trading companies who are the main focal points of the story. Their rocky and often abusive relationship as seamen initiated an intense amount of competitive tension. Throughout the novel, both men seek to destroy each other in matters of business and personal affairs. Struan is referred throughout the novel as "Tai-Pan" (which author Clavell translates as "Supreme Leader", although this is not the accepted translation of the term) indicating his position as head of the largest and most profitable of all the trading companies operating in Asia. Brock, owner of the second largest of the trading companies, constantly vies to destroy Struan's company and reputation in an attempt to both exact revenge on Struan and become the new "Tai-Pan" of Chinese trade.

[edit] Political Subtext

As per normal for Clavell's novels, there is quite a bit of subtext to Tai-Pan. Clavell was a proponent of free trade, an ardent individualist and anti-fascist - the novel alludes to these concepts through the often critical depiction of both European traders and hostile Chinese. And to a lesser degree, the British parliament and their trade policies and practices, especially where the opium trade was concerned. Dirk Struan embodies Clavell's concept of the Hero whose vision for a proper form of cultural integration between East and West finds Dirk throwing off much of what he disliked of both Chinese and European society, yet fusing all that he does admire into a new way of living, bearing close resemblance to the American ideal.

[edit] Trivia

Struan's "Noble House" trading company of the novel is based on Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited, a massive Scottish trading company that operates out of China.

There was a poorly received 1986 motion picture (Tai-Pan) based on the novel. This was due in part to the film being shot in China and being open to on-set censorship by the Chinese. The De LAURENTIS group handled the production and were actively seen battling the Chinese Government and Labor boards over the film during shooting. Ironically, it was this sort of Government intervention that the character of Dirk Struan was so ardently against.

The Cantonese word "Tai-pan" can colloquially refer to a toilet. Often, Cantonese-speaking Chinese use the term "Lao-pan" (pronunciation: Lao-Pan Lao as in English: Cow & Pan as in English An) instead, as there is no misunderstanding there.