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'' 1988 新华书店北京发行所发行 (Beijing Xinhua Bookshop).), sometimes spelt taipan, is a foreign-born senior business executive or entrepreneur operating in China or

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 ...

History

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ''tai-pans'' were foreign-born businessmen who headed large ''

Hong Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

'' trading houses such as Jardine, Matheson & Co.,

Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia, ...

and Dent & Co., amongst others. The first recorded use of the term in English is in the ''

Canton Register ''The Canton Register'' was an English language newspaper founded by Scottish merchants James Matheson and his nephew Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancien ...

'' of 28October 1834.''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' (2nd edn, 1989). Historical variant spellings include ''taepan'' (first appearance), ''typan'', and ''taipan''. The term also refers to the

Chinese-Filipino Chinese Filipinos; tl, Tsinoy, / Tsinong Pilipino, ; Philippine Hokkien , Mandarin (also known as Filipino Chinese in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent, mostly of southern Fujianese ancestry, where the majority are bor ...

business oligarchs who own or having involvement in various businesses in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and are the powerful billionaire-founders of Filipino-Chinese business empires. Examples of taipans are the late

Henry Sy Henry Tan Chi Sieng Sy Sr. (; ; October 15, 1924 – January 19, 2019) was a Filipino businessman and investor. Born in Fujian, he moved with his family to the Philippines at age 12. While his family returned to China, he stayed behind and f ...

SM Investments SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), also known as SM Group, is a Filipino conglomerate with interests in shopping mall development and management, retail, real estate development, banking, and tourism. Founded by Henry Sy, it has become one of ...

, Philippine transmission system operator

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is a privately owned corporation that was created on January 15, 2009, through RA 9511. It is a consortium of three corporations, namely Monte Oro Grid Resources Corporation, Calaca High Po ...

vice-chairmen Henry T. Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr., and

Lucio Tan Lucio Chua Tan Sr. (; born July 17, 1934) is a Filipino business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He presides over the Filipino conglomerate company LT Group, Inc., a company with extensive business interests in sports, banking, airline ...

Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. ( PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and i ...

In popular culture

The term gained wide currency outside China after the publication of

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

's 1922

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

" The Taipan" and

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 ...

's 1966 novel ''

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' ...

''. The term was used to describe the protagonist's family in ''

Empire of the Sun ''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology '' ...

''.

Taipans

* William Jardine,

Jardine Matheson 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 ...

(1843–1845), Hong Kong *

James Matheson Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet, FRS (17 November 179631 December 1878), was a Scottish Tai-Pan. Born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, he was the son of Captain Donald Matheson. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High Sch ...

, Jardine Matheson (1796–1878), Hong Kong *

Lawrence Kadoorie Lawrence Kadoorie, Baron Kadoorie, CBE (2 June 1899 – 25 August 1993) was a Hong Kong industrialist, hotelier, photographer and philanthropist. Biography Lawrence Kadoorie was born to a Baghdadi-Jewish family from Bombay, India. He was the ...

, China Light and Power (1899-1993), Hong Kong * Alasdair Morrison,

(1994-2000), Hong Kong * Simon Murray,

Hutchison Whampoa Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...

(1984-1994), Hong Kong *

Percy Weatherall Edward Percy Keswick Weatherall (born 1957) is a British businessman, formerly active in Hong Kong. He was managing director of the Jardine Matheson Group from 2000 to 31 March 2006 having joined the board in 1999. Weatherall joined the Jardine G ...

(born 1957), Jardine Matheson, Hong Kong *

William Keswick William Keswick (15 April 1834 – 9 March 1912) was a British Conservative politician and businessman, patriarch of the Keswick family, an influential shipping family in Hong Kong associated with Jardine Matheson Holdings. Biography Keswick w ...

(1834–1912), Scotland *

Merlin Bingham Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia ...

(born 1973), England *

Douglas Lapraik Douglas Lapraik (7 October 1818, London – 24 March 1869, London) was a British watchmaker, shipbuilder and shipping magnate of Scottish origins, most famous for his business empire and his role in the founding of many of Hong Kong's early co ...

(1818–1869), England *

John Johnstone Paterson John Johnstone Paterson (29 October 1886 - 29 January 1971) was a tai-pan of Jardine Matheson & Co. and a member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Biography The eldest son of William Paterson, a former partner at ...

(1886-1971), Jardine Matheson, Hong Kong * John Charles Bois (1848-1918), Butterfield & Swire, Shanghai

References

{{Economy of Hong Kong navbox Cantonese words and phrases Economy of Hong Kong

History

In popular culture

Taipans

See also

References