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Even portions of the sea and the bed of the sea, foreshore, sand beaches, and any land whatever which may be turned into use and profit, are claimed and in some cases registered.
Crown land is undefined, and adjacent proprietors claim almost every inch of land under cover of vague grants, though they pay no land tax for such illegal possessions.
Land Measurement.
The acreage of land is not always calculated by square measure in maus (0 1515 English acres) as it should be according to law, but generally by the amount of grain required to sow the land, a method which is very uncertain and unsatisfactory and causes much friction with the farmers, especially as the grain measures vary in different localities.
Cultivated land.
All land under cultivation must be registered or is liable to confiscation. On registration stamped title deeds are issued by the District Magistrate.
Chinese Title Deeds.
Officially registered title deeds are called "red deeds" (Hung Kai IR) because they are stamped with the official stamp in red.
Private deeds of sale are called "white deeds" (Puk K'ai □) because they are simply written on plain paper and do not bear the official red stamp; but the purchaser has the right to register his purchase and obtain a red deed.
There are also mortgages, operating as deeds of sale, redeemable within 30 years; perpetual leases at low rentals and leases for short terms of 5 or 10 years. Red deeds are the only deeds of which the Government takes cognisance and the Crown Rent is collected on these deeds only.
The descriptions of land in deeds are always vague, and can only be ascer- tained accurately by a survey of the actual land in occupation. The local name of the land is given and sometimes the nearest village, but these only show approx- imately where the land is situated.
Patches of fields situated in different districts are often contained in a single deed, and in one case a deed has been brought in for registration which purports to be a sale of land in 24 distinct villages. It is not rare to find two or three registered deeds produced in proof of ownership of the same lots. The Chinese Authorities kept no register of titles and, under their system of registry, fraudulent sales could be registered with impunity until litigation ensued when, after a lapse of years, a vesting order in the rightful possessor could be issued by the District Magistrate.
The consideration money mentioned in the deeds is hardly ever accurate, being usually stated innch below the actual sum paid so that the ad valorem duty payable on obtaining a red deed may be the minimum. In one case in which a sum of $4,000 was paid, the amount entered in the deed was only $475.
Deeds of sale in perpetuity generally state the amount of rent to be paid to the grantor by the grantec.
White deeds are merely unregistered transfers and give very few particulars beyond the rent to be received and sometimes the amount of grain required to sow the plot and its local name.
Forms of Red and White Deeds with translations are attached. (See Appendix No. VI A. B. C.)
Varieties of Tenure.
In most cases land is owned by clans or private families and individuals, and can be sold, mortgaged or settled upon specific trusts. In addition to these there are also the following varieties of tenure.
Ancestral land or "Sheung Tin," Temple land, or " Miu Tin," Land held by Associations, or Ui Tin."
Ancestral Land.
Ancestral land is land that has been originally set apart for ancestral worship and is increased by purchase from time to time in the name of the deceased ancestor, in whose name also the Government taxes are paid.
The rent of ancestral lands is