Asian Saga


The Asian Saga is a series of six novels written by James Clavell between 1962 and 1993. The novels all centre on Europeans 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, and who was a prisoner of war of the Japanese during the Second World War—to tell "the story of the Anglo-Saxon in Asia".
Ordered by publication date:
  1. King Rat
  2. Tai-Pan
  3. Shōgun
  4. Noble House
  5. Whirlwind
  6. Gai-Jin
Ordered by internal chronology:
  1. Shōgun: set in feudal Japan, 1600. 1152 pages.
  2. Tai-Pan: set in Hong Kong, 1841. 727 pages.
  3. Gai-Jin: set in Japan, 1862. 1126 pages.
  4. King Rat: set in a Japanese POW camp, Singapore, 1945. 400 pages.
  5. Noble House: set in Hong Kong, 1963. 1171 pages.
  6. Whirlwind: set in Iran, 1979. 1147 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, its founder Dirk Struan, 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 reappear in Noble House, and Robert Armstrong is a major character in both Noble House and Whirlwind. As a tie-in, Linc Bartlett's namesake ancestor appears in Clavell's film Walk Like a Dragon.
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, the character John Marlowe in the prequel "Gai-jin" is almost certainly meant to be an ancestor of "King Rat" protagonist Peter Marlowe. Clavell peppers the entire Asian Saga with these genealogical Easter eggs.
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. The preface to Gai-jin introduces the book as "the second novel in the Shōgun quartet," suggesting that at least two more Japan-focused books were planned. Any such intentions were cut short by Clavell's 1994 death.

Plot

List of tai-pans of Struan's

  • 1st tai-pan: Dirk Struan, 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
  • 6th tai-pan: Ross Lechie Struan, 1908–1915
  • 7th tai-pan: Sir Ross Struan, 1915–19??
  • 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
  • 12th tai-pan: Linbar Struan, 1975–19?
  • 5th tai-pan : Kelly O'Gorman, 1894–1915

    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 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 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.
The second coin was brought in 1894 by Chiang Wu-tah. He asked that the Noble House give aid and sanctuary to Sun Yat-sen and to assist him to overthrow the Manchu 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 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. 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 takes over the coin and begs the favours from Ian Dunross.
The fate of the fourth coin is never addressed in the published books of the saga, but would presumably have been resolved in a future installment if Clavell had lived longer. It is speculated in Noble House that it was given to May-may and passed down to their descendant Sir Shih-teh "Shitee" T'Chung.

Adaptations

As of 2024, four installments of the Asian Saga have been adapted for film or television:
Although there were press reports in the mid-1990s that a miniseries adaptation of Gai-Jin was planned, no production eventuated.