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an honest livelihood without difficulty. Few signs of anything approaching destitution were seen, and only a few beggars were met "."
The reason for this general standard of well-being was undoubtedly the universal ownership of land. Whether Punti or Hakka, most families in every village owned some fields of their own, some more as a matter of course and some less, and because of the joint succession to ancestral property by all male descendants in the direct line, nearly everyone had a joint and undivided share, a stake, in the land. There was also clan land, which could be farmed out to poorer members. In land matters, the clan had priority over the individual. This was reflected in Chinese deeds of sale or mortgage which, if the New Territory is anything to go by, appear to follow the same form in Kwangtung as in far Shantung.11 Where a sale was contemplated, a reason had always to be specified, and the land had always to be offered in the first place to all relatives, which in fact meant practically anyone inside the clan, before being offered to an outsider. Mortgages were more common than sales and were redeemable at any period after the original mortgage, so that land need not pass outside the clan forever. There is no doubt that this tight rein on sales assisted the general preservation of the clan and the village and was a powerful factor in the continuance of a static and integrated life. These matters were regulated by the clan elders in conformity with immemorial custom.
To meet clan needs, amongst which was the proper worship of ancestors as well as the needs of the living, such as education of the young and the care of the old, certain fields and houses were set aside in trust, and the trust so created was known as a tong or tso. These are commonly found in the New Territory, and many were registered at the land settlement which followed the grant of the lease to Great Britain. The tso is the more closely connected with the clan. Anyone can form a tong, but a tso is definitely a clan affair, and of the nature of a serious ancestral trust.12 It is set up to ensure that property is not divided or disposed of without due thought and is designed to circumvent the acts of foolish or spendthrift descendants, in the interests of all that the Confucian system holds most dear: the rearing of sons, giving them a proper education, seeing that forebears are duly respected in a fitting manner, assisting with