Horatio Sinclair – clerk to William Longstaff, church fanatic and harbours incestuous desires for his sister Mary. Chinese Manners) “It was the height of Chinese decorum to pretend to the host that the food was so good that one could eat no more, even though both host and guest knew they would continue to eat ravenously.”

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.With the proceeds from the movie sale for King Rat, it gave him the money he required to write Tai Pan. In 1824, Culum Struan was born. He was the son of Dirk Struan and Ronalda. Shortly after his birth, Ronalda and Culum were sent to Glasgow. Ronalda would never return to China. Also this year, Gordon Chen was born. He was the illegitimate son of Dirk Struan and his mistress, Chen Kai Sung. ADDENDUM: I watched the movie. There is so much missing from the plot of the book that I'm not really sure how anyone can watch the movie and understand what is going on. At different points Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Steve McQueen were attached to the project, but negotiations fell through each time. Bryan Brown was cast to play Dirk Struan and actually plays the part well. Joan Chen is absolutely stunning as May-May, but despite the efforts of the two main actors the movie proves unsatisfactory. This story really should have been a mini-series like Shogun and Noble House. Anybody who may have had thoughts of watching the movie instead of reading the book (unlikely on GR) would be incredibly short changed from the epic experience that only the book can provide. Much more happily, the book is a lot shorter than Shogun. They cut off most of the romance stuff, and what romance there is, they've got a lot better chemistry and spend much less time just dully telling each other how much they're in love, or "pillowing", or talking about dildos. Worth a half star more all on its own. Shōgun (1980), was adapted by NBC as a television miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and Yoko Shimada; the production was one of the highest rated programs of its kind ever broadcast.

May–May – Dirk Struan's Chinese mistress, granddaughter of Jin-Qua, instructed to teach Dirk "civilised" (Chinese) ways As with all of Clavell’s Asian novels, it is very long and interwoven with many plot threads involving a long list of characters.My memories of James Clavell sit proudly on my bookshelf in hardcover editions of all of his books, from King Rat to Escape. About Love) “love is like the sea, sometimes calm and sometimes stormy; it’s dangerous, beautiful, death-dealing, life-giving. But never permanent, everchanging. And unique only for a short span in the eyes of time.” Mei Mei’s Quotes: This is not a historical tome. It is a fictionalized account of the first year of the British colony of Hong Kong (1841). The characters are all loosely based on actual people - as are their trading companies. That is what Clavell did in his novels and it's important that one understand that. The nine-hour miniseries was nominated for 14 Emmy Awards, winning three including Best Limited Series. [2] [3] It also won three Golden Globe Awards. [3]