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 Delta i ...

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'' 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 co ...

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

of SM Investments, 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. (Philippine Stock Exchange, PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Cen ...

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's 1966 novel '' Tai-Pan''. 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, Jardine Matheson (1796–1878), Hong Kong * Lawrence Kadoorie, China Light and Power (1899-1993), Hong Kong * Alasdair Morrison,

(1994-2000), Hong Kong * Simon Murray, Hutchison Whampoa (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 ...

(1834–1912), Scotland * Merlin Bingham Swire (born 1973), England * Douglas Lapraik (1818–1869), England * John Johnstone Paterson (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