''Tribulations of a Chinaman in China'' (french: Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine) is an

adventure novel Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedi ...

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, first published in 1879. The story is about a rich Chinese man, Kin-Fo, who is bored with life, and after some business misfortune decides to die.

Plot summary

Kin-Fo is an extremely wealthy man who certainly does not lack material possessions. However, he is terribly bored and when news reaches him about his major investment abroad, a bank in the United States, going bankrupt, Kin-Fo decides to die. He signs up for a $200,000 life insurance covering all kinds of accidents, death in war, and even

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

; the philosopher Wang (Kin-Fo's old mentor) and Kin-Fo's fiancée are to be the beneficiaries. He rejects

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

and

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

as means of dying, and is about to take

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

laced with poison when he decides that he doesn't want to die without having ever felt a thrill in his life. Kin-Fo hires Wang (actually a former warrior of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...

) to murder him before the life insurance expires. After a while news reaches Kin-Fo that the American bank he had invested in was not bankrupt, but instead had pulled off a stock market trick and is now wealthier than ever. Unfortunately, Wang has already disappeared. Together with two bodyguards assigned by the insurance company, and his loyal but lazy and incompetent servant Soun, Kin-Fo travels around the country in an effort to run away from Wang and the humiliation from the affair. One day he receives a message from Wang, stating that he can't stand the pain of having to kill one of his friends, and instead decided to take his own life while giving the task of killing Kin-Fo to a bandit he once knew. Kin-Fo, Soun and the two bodyguards now try to get to the bandit, planning to offer money in return for his life. The ship they travel with is hijacked, and they are forced to use their

life vests A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suite that is worn by a ...

with built-in sails to return to land. After being kidnapped by the bandit they were looking for, they are blindfolded and returned to Kin-Fo's home, where his old friends (including Wang, who we now find out staged this entire history to teach him a lesson about how valuable life is) are waiting for him. He marries his young, beautiful fiancée after all and they live happily ever after.

Style

The book is a traditional adventure, similar in style to ''

Around the World in Eighty Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

'', one of the author's better-known books. However, it does contain more humour as well as criticism of topics such as the British opium trade in China.

Translations

An English translation was serialized in ''

The Leisure Hour ''The Leisure Hour'' was a British general-interest periodical of the Victorian era which ran weekly from 1852 to 1905. It was the most successful of several popular magazines published by the Religious Tract Society, which produced Christian lite ...

'' in 1880.

Film versions

A 1965 film starring

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

, ''

Up to His Ears ''Up to His Ears'' (french: Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine or in English, "Tribulations of a Chinaman in China") is a 1965 French=Italian international co-production adventure film, adventure comedy film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Ursu ...

'', was loosely based on this novel. A 1987 film, '' The Tribulations of a Chinese Gentleman'', was directed by

Wu Yigong Wu Yigong (; 1 December 1938 – 14 September 2019) was a Chinese film director and producer. Biography Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Wu Yigong enrolled in the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy in 1956. After graduation in ...

, starring

Chen Peisi Chen Peisi (; born 1 February 1954) is a Chinese sketch comedian, film and stage actor, and voice actor. Chen's oft-time comedy partner is Zhu Shimao. Name Chen Peisi is the second son of famous stage and film actor Chen Qiang. Chen Qiang's f ...

Rosalind Chao Rosalind Chao (; born September 23, 1957) is an American actress. Chao's best-known roles have been Soon-Lee Klinger in the mid-1980s CBS show ''AfterMASH'', Rose Hsu Jordan in the 1993 movie ''The Joy Luck Club (film), The Joy Luck Club'', the ...

and

Rolf Hoppe Rolf Hoppe (6 December 1930 – 14 November 2018) was a prolific German stage, cinema, and television actor, who played in more than 400 films in a career which spanned over six decades. To international audiences Hoppe is perhaps best known f ...

Films with similar plots

* '' Flirting with Fate'' (1916) * ''

The Man in Search of His Murderer ''The Man in Search of His Murderer'' (german: Der Mann, der seinen Mörder sucht) is a 1931 German comedy film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Heinz Rühmann, Lien Deyers and Hans Leibelt.Hardt p. 239 The film is partially lost; of the o ...

'' (1931) * ''

The Whistler ''The Whistler'' is an American radio mystery drama which ran from May 16, 1942, until September 22, 1955, on the west-coast regional CBS radio network. The show was also broadcast in Chicago and over Armed Forces Radio. On the west coast, it w ...

'' (1944) * '' You Only Live Once'' (1952) * '' Five Days'' (1954) * ''

The Odd Job ''The Odd Job'' is a 1978 British comedy film starring Monty Python member Graham Chapman. It tells the story of a man named Arthur Harris (Chapman) who is recently abandoned by his wife. He becomes so depressed that he hires an "odd job man" ...

'' (1978) * ''

Tulips Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

'' (1981) * ''

I Hired a Contract Killer ''I Hired a Contract Killer'' is a film directed, produced and written by the Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki in 1990. It is a Finnish-British-German-Swedish co-production and stars the renowned French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud. The film also feat ...

'' (1990) * ''

Bulworth ''Bulworth'' is a 1998 American political satire black comedy film co-written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Warren Beatty. It co-stars Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, and Isaiah Washington. The film f ...

'' (1998) * ''

Shut Up and Shoot Me ''Shut Up and Shoot Me'' ( cs, Sklapni a zastřel mě) is a 2005 Czech black comedy film. It was written and directed by Steen Agro and stars Karel Roden, Andy Nyman, and Anna Geislerová. See also * ''Tribulations of a Chinaman in China'' (nove ...

'' (2005)

References

External links

E-text of ''Tribulations of a Chinaman in China'' in various languages at the Jules Verne Virtual Library.
*
The Adventures of a Chinaman in China
{{Authority control 1879 French novels French novels adapted into films Novels by Jules Verne Novels set in the Qing dynasty