# The Taipan — On a Chinese Screen character guide

> The Taipan in On a Chinese Screen by W. Somerset Maugham.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** taipan

**First appearance:** 0052-xlix-the-taipan

## Snapshot

Thirty years in China, not one word of the language, and a piano repertoire of London musical comedies he'll perform on request for anyone at the club.

## Who they are

The Taipan runs Jardine's, gives generously to charity, plays a decent round of golf, and has never once set foot in the Chinese city beyond his own compradore's office. He is a bachelor by policy — marriage, he says, is no use to a man in China — and he prides himself on hating the country and the people with the same cheerful thoroughness he brings to a billiards tournament. His unfathomable frivolity, that grey-haired man singing Lily Elsie ditties nine thousand miles from home, is what makes him the treaty port's most admired and most unsettling fixture.

## Relationships

### [Little Mrs. Turner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/characters/little_mrs_turner)

_psychological_

Little Mrs. Turner is infatuated with the Taipan, seeking his attention and approval in a dynamic that borders on obsession.

### [The Doctor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/characters/the_doctor)

_rivalry_

The Doctor and the Taipan are often at odds, representing contrasting worldviews—medical humanitarianism versus commercial pragmatism.

### [Higgins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/characters/higgins)

_professional_

Higgins works under the Taipan as a clerk or subordinate, their interactions defined by business orders and hierarchical deference.

### [Fanning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/characters/fanning)

_professional_

Fanning is a business associate or subordinate of the Taipan, involved in trade negotiations and company operations.

## In the story

### [On a Chinese Screen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/on-a-chinese-screen)

A powerful Western merchant whose presence embodies colonial authority and the moral compromises of trade.

### [VI: Dinner Parties](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/vi-dinner-parties)

Represented by the 'number one at Jardine’s' and other business leaders at the Treaty Port dinner.

### [I: Legation Quarter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/i-legation-quarter)

Not directly present in the excerpt, but the diplomatic setting and themes of colonial ennui and cultural isolation resonate with the Taipan's world.

### [IX: The Inn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/ix-the-inn)

The narrator, traveling in a sedan chair, arrives at the inn and settles in the guest chamber.

### [X: The Glory Hole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/x-the-glory-hole)

Present among the company in the Glory Hole, representing the tea firms.

### [XXI: Dr. Macalister](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxi-dr-macalister)

The narrator, who is the guest at Dr. Macalister's tiffin and observes the doctor's transformation.

### [XXXVIII: The Philosopher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxviii-the-philosopher)

The narrator's host who initially tries to summon the philosopher in a cavalier manner.

### [The Skipper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xli-the-skipper)

The narrator, who engages the skipper in conversation about democracy and socialism.

### [Nightfall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xliii-nightfall)

Implied as the traveler experiencing nostalgia and sentimentality.

### [XLIV: The Normal Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xliv-the-normal-man)

The narrator, who observes and reflects on Robert Webb's character and the rarity of normalcy.

### [The Old Timer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlv-the-old-timer)

Not directly present; the old timer's story is independent of the taipan.

### [XLVII: Failure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlvii-failure)

The chapter describes a failed tea-taster who embodies the decline of the old merchant class, though the Taipan himself is not directly named; the description aligns with the Taipan's milieu.

### [XLIX: The Taipan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlix-the-taipan)

Protagonist of the chapter; reflects on his career and social ascent, experiences a disturbing hallucination of a grave, and dies of shock or illness after writing a desperate letter to return to England.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/characters/the_taipan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/characters