Struan's  The Struan family and their company Struan's (also called the Noble House) is a fictional family featuring heavily in many of the Asian Saga novels by writer James Clavell. The family plays an important role in the novels "Tai-Pan", "Noble House", "Gai-Jin", and "Whirlwind". "Tai-Pan" is the first book about the Struan family, although it is preceded by "Shōgun" in the Asian Saga. The Struan family begins its journey with the story of Dirk Struan, a trader of opium and other goods between China and England. Dirk is the founder of the Noble House and plays a major role in establishing Hong Kong. The fictional Struan family is based on the historical William Jardine family of Jardine Matheson fame and hails from Dumfries, Scotland.