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The ''Asian Saga'' is a series of six novels written by
James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best ...
between 1962 and 1993. The novels all centre on
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
ans in Asia, and together explore the impact on East and West of the meeting of these two distinct civilizations.


Overview

The name ''Asian Saga'' was first applied to the series after ''Shōgun'' had been published. The purpose of the ''Asian Saga'' was, according to Clavell—descendant of a family long in service to the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and who was a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
of the Japanese during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
—to tell "the story of the Anglo-Saxon in Asia". Ordered by publication date: # '' King Rat'' (1962) # ''
Tai-Pan A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary' ...
'' (1966) # ''
Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
'' (1975) # '' Noble House'' (1981) # ''
Whirlwind A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and ...
'' (1986) # ''
Gai-Jin ''Gai-Jin'' (Japanese for "foreigner") is a 1993 novel by James Clavell, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of ''Tai-Pan'', it chronicles t ...
'' (1993) Ordered by internal chronology: # ''
Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
:'' set in feudal
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, 1600. 1152 pages. # ''
Tai-Pan A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary' ...
:'' set in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, 1841. 727 pages. # ''
Gai-Jin ''Gai-Jin'' (Japanese for "foreigner") is a 1993 novel by James Clavell, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of ''Tai-Pan'', it chronicles t ...
:'' set in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, 1862. 1126 pages. # '' King Rat:'' set in a
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
camp,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, 1945. 400 pages. # '' Noble House:'' set in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, 1963. 1171 pages. # ''
Whirlwind A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and ...
:'' set in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, 1979. 1147 pages (Abridged with some rewritten parts as ''Escape'', 598 pages) Four of the six books—''Tai-Pan'', ''Gai-Jin'', ''Noble House'', and ''Whirlwind''—follow the dealings of the great trading company Struan's, the Noble House of Asia (based on
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (also known as Jardines) is a Hong Kong-based Bermuda-domiciled British multinational conglomerate. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange and ...
), its founder
Dirk Struan Dirk Lochlin Struan (1797–1841) is the fictional main character of James Clavell's 1966 novel ''Tai-Pan''. The title comes from a Cantonese term that Clavell loosely translates as "supreme leader", and Struan is the Tai-pan or head of his own ...
, and his various descendants. ''Gai-Jin'' provides the major link between the ''Shōgun'' and Struan's storylines. Some of the characters make appearances in multiple books, and many characters from one book are referred to in later books. For example, two characters from ''King Rat'' (Robin Grey and Peter Marlowe) reappear in ''Noble House,'' and Robert Armstrong is a major character in both '' Noble House'' and ''
Whirlwind A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and ...
.'' As a tie-in, Linc Bartlett's (''Noble House'') namesake ancestor appears in Clavell's film, '' Walk Like a Dragon'' (1960). There are dozens of characters throughout the series, with very complex family relationships and a great deal of history that is hinted at but never described in detail. For instance, Peter Marlowe is almost certainly a descendant of Lt. John Marlowe, the captain who married Malcolm Struan and Angelique Richaud against the wishes of Tess Struan, as Clavell refers often to Peter Marlowe's family's long history of naval service. Clavell peppers the entire Asian Saga with these genealogical
Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...
. After publishing ''Whirlwind,'' Clavell wrote a shorter version of the story which focused on two characters from the book. Titled ''Escape: The Love Story from Whirlwind,'' the book is generally not considered an official part of the Asian Saga; nonetheless, some reviewers said it helped flesh out several aspects of the original novel. In 1980, Clavell stated that, beyond ''Noble House,'' future entries in the series would include ''Nippon,'' set in 1970s Japan, and ''China,'' set in the present and future. When he died in 1994 after the publication of ''Gai-Jin'', it was reported that he had been planning several more entries in the ''Asian Saga'' series.


Plot


List of tai-pans of Struan's

* 1st tai-pan:
Dirk Struan Dirk Lochlin Struan (1797–1841) is the fictional main character of James Clavell's 1966 novel ''Tai-Pan''. The title comes from a Cantonese term that Clavell loosely translates as "supreme leader", and Struan is the Tai-pan or head of his own ...
, 1828–1841 * 2nd tai-pan: Culum Struan, 1841–1862 * 3rd tai-pan: Sir Lochlin Struan, 1862–1873?? * 4th tai-pan: Dirk Dunross, 1873–1894 * 5th tai-pan: Sir Lochlin Struan, 1894–1908 (see notes) * 6th tai-pan: Ross Lechie Struan, 1908–1915 * 7th tai-pan: Sir Ross Struan, 1915–19?? (see notes) * 8th tai-pan: Colin Dunross, 19??–1949 * 9th tai-pan: Alastair Struan, 1949–1960 * 10th tai-pan: Ian Dunross, 1960–1970 * 11th tai-pan: David MacStruan, 1970–1975 (see notes) * 12th tai-pan: Linbar Struan, 1975–19? * 5th tai-pan (in name only): Kelly O'Gorman, 1894–1915 (see notes)


The half coins of Jin-qua

In 1841 when Struan's was on the brink of collapse, Dirk Struan received a loan of silver from the merchant
Jin-qua ''Tai-Pan'' is a 1966 novel written by James Clavell about European and American traders who move into Hong Kong in 1842 following the end of the First Opium War. It is the second book in Clavell's Asian Saga, and the first to feature the fic ...
in exchange for a series of favors. Among these were four bronze coins, split in half, four halves given to Dirk Struan, the other four halves kept by Jin-qua. Anyone who brought a half coin to the
tai-pan A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary' ...
of the Noble House would be granted whatever he asked, whether legal or illegal. All future tai-pans must swear to keep this bargain, before learning the details, if they were to become tai-pan. This served as repayment to the loan of silver. Of the four coins, one was kept by Jin-qua, passed down through his family. One given to the warlord Wu Fang Choi. One given to Gordon Chen, and passed down through his family, and one given out in secret. The first coin was brought to Dirk Struan in 1841 by
Wu Fang Choi Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county i ...
. The second coin was brought in 1894 by
Chiang Wu-tah Chiang may mean: * a Chinese surname (蔣), alternatively spelt Jiang ** Chiang Kai-shek, former leader of the Republic of China * Chi'ang, variant spelling of the ancient Qiang (historical people) (羌) * Chi'ang, variant spelling of the modern ...
. He asked that the Noble House give aid and sanctuary to
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
and to assist him to overthrow the
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
dynasty. This is recounted in ''Noble House'', chapter 60. In the movie however, the second coin is stated to have been returned to Hag Struan in 1911. The story of the third coin is a major plot line in ''Noble House''. The coin is owned by Struan's trusted
compradore A comprador or compradore () is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a native manager for a European business house in East and South East Asia ...
Phillip Chen, handed down to him from his grandfather Gordon Chen. However, his son John Chen learns the secret of the coin, steals it, and bargains it and its secret away to American businessman
Lincoln Bartlett Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...
. Before Bartlett takes possession of the coin, John Chen is kidnapped and murdered. When Phillip Chen enlists his underworld cousin Four Finger Wu to help locate John, Wu discovers the coin in the possession of one of the kidnappers, and takes it for his own, knowing its secret. When Wu dies, his son
Profitable Choy In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs. It i ...
takes over the coin and begs the favours from Ian Dunross. The fate of the fourth coin is not addressed in the saga. However, it is speculated in ''Noble House'' that it was given to May-may (Dirk Struan's mistress) and passed down to their descendant Sir Shih-teh "Shitee" T'Chung.


Adaptations

As of 2006, four installments of the ''Asian Saga'' have been adapted for film or television: * '' King Rat'' (1965), starring
George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...
, was nominated for two
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Art Direction and Black and White Cinematography. * ''
Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
'' (1980), was adapted by
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
as a television miniseries starring
Richard Chamberlain George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show ''Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shōg ...
,
Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...
, and
Yoko Shimada was a Japanese actress, best known to Western audiences for her portrayal of Mariko in the 1980 miniseries ''Shōgun''. ''Shogun'' miniseries Shimada was the only female member of ''Shōgun''s massive cast of Japanese actors shown speaking En ...
; the production was one of the highest rated programs of its kind ever broadcast. ** The nine-hour miniseries was nominated for 14
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
s, winning three including Best Limited Series. It also won three
Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
. ** A two-hour version received a theatrical release in 1981. * ''
Tai-Pan A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary' ...
'' (1986), released as a theatrical film starring
Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...
and
Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film ''The Last Emperor''. She is also ...
, was a critical and box office failure. * '' Noble House'' (1988) was adapted as a TV miniseries starring
Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...
and was a ratings success. It updated the timeframe of the novel from the 1960s to the 1980s and took many liberties with key points of the novel (for example, Ian Dunross became a bachelor who had a romance with Casey Tcholok). Although there were press reports in the mid-1990s that a miniseries adaptation of ''Gai-Jin'' was planned, no production eventuated. The channel FX announced in August 2018 that it would adapt ''Shōgun'' into another miniseries of 10 episodes.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asian Saga Book series introduced in 1962 Historical novels by series