Tribulations of a Chinaman in China (French: Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine) is a 1879 novel by Jules Verne.
Kin-Fo is very wealthy, but he is bored. When he hears that he is broke because of bad investments, he asks his tutor Wang to kill him by surprise in the coming weeks. Wang promises to accomplish this mission. A few days later, Wang disappears. Then Kin-Fo is informed that his fortune is actually safe, so he does not want to die any more, but he cannot find Wang to tell him…
If that plot device sounds at all familiar, that's because it went on to inspire a bunch of other works, most famously Warren Beatty's Bulworth, but also Douglas Fairbanks's Flirting with Fate, Graham Chapman's The Odd Job, and many more. A somewhat closer adaptation, using the novel's original French title (and released in the US as Up To His Ears), was made in 1965 with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Ursula Andress. Leave it to Verne, ahead of the curve as usual, to have come up with it first.
(Incidentally, the word "Chinois" in the original French title just means "Chinese man"; it doesn't have the old-fashioned and derogatory sound of "Chinaman", which is an unfortunate relic of an old translation.)
Tribulations of a Chinaman in China provides examples of the following tropes:
- An Aesop: Life is worth living it.
- Book Ends: In the beginning, Kin-Fo has a feast with his friends in Canton. In the end, he has a feast with the same friends in his palace in Shanghai.
- Butt-Monkey: Soun, Kin-Fo's servant. For example, he has to push the wheelbarrow that carries Kin-Fo, he is seasick on the boat...
- Caught on Tape: Nan, Le-ou's servant, curses Le-ou and Kin-Fo when she is alone, but Le-ou's phonograph records her voice. When Le-ou hears it, she fires Nan.
- The Dividual: Craig-Fry are always together, they look like each other (they are cousins), they always think and do the same thing.
- Driven to Suicide: When he hears that he is broke, Kin-Fo wants to commit suicide with poisoned opium, but finally he changes his mind.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Craig-Fry do it constantly.
- Food End: In the end, Kin-Fo, Wang, his friends and Le-ou have a feast in Kin-Fo's palace in Shanghai.
- Friendly Scheming: Wang knew from start that Kin-Fo was not broke and he guessed that he did not want to die any more, but he set up Kin-Fo's adventures to teach him about the value of life.
- Happily Ever After: Kin-Fo marries with Le-ou in the end.
- Imperial China: The story is set in China, which was still an empire at the time.
- Inscrutable Oriental: Kin-Fo is always calm and collected, even when he is going to commit suicide. This is why he asks Wang to murder him instead: he wants to feel some emotions.
- No One Could Survive That!: Wang falls into a river. Kin-Fo assumes that he died. Actually, he survives. He shows up in the end.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Soun, the lazy and fearful servant of Kin-Fo, only exists to provide some humour.
- Punch-Clock Hero: Craig-Fry help Kin-Fo only because their employer, the insurance company, told them to protect him. As soon as Kin-Fo's contract expire, they leave him to his fate.
- Retired Badass: Now Wang is a quiet philosopher, but in the past he was a dreaded Tai-ping rebel.
- Rich Boredom: Kin-Fo is rich, but he is bored with life.
- Suicide by Assassin: When he thinks that he is broke, Kin-Fo wants to commit suicide, then he changes his mind and asks Wang to kill him. Wang accepts.
- Twist Ending: Kin-Fo is caught by Lao-Shen. He thinks Lao-Shen will kill him. He is locked up in a box. Suddenly, the box opens. Lao-Shen has carried Kin-Fo to his palace in Shanghai, where his friends are waiting for him. The whole thing was set up by Wang.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Wang seems to be dead. Moreover, Wang promised to murder Kin-Fo not later than 25th June and the deadline is going to expire. So Kin-Fo thinks that he is safe and he is going to marry Le-ou. Then he receives a letter: Wang informs him that he instructed a dreaded Tai-ping leader to murder Kin-Fo in his place.
