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JAMES HAYES
them, this title was given to persons who would later be called the headman (†) or village representative (††). Their main job was to stop or settle petty squabbles and secure the adjustment and payment of compensation for damage to crops caused by straying cows and pigs. These leaders consulted each other by mutual visiting, and by occasional meetings in the Hau Wong temple (i) when the occasion was serious enough to warrant this. Even persons of 30-40 years of age could serve, if they were capable and had the time.
Written proof for the Sha Kok Mei wai cheung comes from a sale of land recorded in 1942 during the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong. The buyer and seller and wai cheung were all from the village (local testimony) and the fact that the post was, as stated above, held on a yearly term of office is confirmed by the expression ... . The deed reads as follows, in translation:
2
I, CHU Hei, executor of this sale of paddy field for want of money at home, hereby sell of my own free will thirteen pieces of paddy land that have come down to me from my ancestors. Of different sizes, they total two tau chung, and they are situated at Kang Lau Ha. Sold for the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars, they pass into the perpetual ownership of TSANG HO Sze as of this day without possibility of redemption. This deed is final and binding between the two parties.
The hand of seller of land; CHU Hei
Witnessed by: CHU Kat-hing
LAU Kei-yau,
Wai cheung of current-year.
Dated the 8th day of the first lunar month in the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942)
The fact that the wai cheung who witnessed the transaction was not of the seller's clan is probably accounted for by the fact that the CHUs were among the smaller clans in this large, multi-clan village.