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is land held by associations of “Ui T'in".
"China is a land of associations which are as numerous and the objects of which are as varied as the needs of man. Their formation is simple and easy. Certain villages, whatever their object may be, meet in a temple, ancestral hall or private house to deliberate over some scheme. If it is approved, a fund is raised to which the members contribute equally, their contributions being devoted to the purchase of a piece of land; landed property in China being considered the safest investment. The rent derived from this land may be used for the burial of a member of the association when he dies, or may be let out on interest, or may be used to assist members to emigrate to California and Australia, or for any other enterprise or good object that may be desired."
The 1948 Committee considered that this passage was still relevant.
As regards individual ownership of land the Memorandum states:-
"If any owner wishes to sell his land, he is supposed to offer such land in the first instance to his nearest relatives, and is not at liberty to sell to anyone outside of his clan, unless the nearest relatives are unwilling to purchase. In large clans transactions in land take place, as a rule, between different members of the clan without the property ever being disposed of to outsiders. In such transactions the deed of transfer is invariably worded as if it were a mortgage and no period for redemption is fixed, the vendor or mortgagor or his descendants thus having every opportunity to redeem the property at the original price even several generations after the transaction has been made. It is customary for the mortgagor to enter into possession so that a Chinese mortgage is often equivalent to a sale."
Although the ancient customary law then put sanctions on the disposal of land in individual ownership, statutory provisions have ousted that customary law and have even given the manager entrusted with the control of clan land full power to dispose of such land as if he was the sole owner. As the 1948 Committee observed, there are other exceptions introduced by the Ordinance which regulate the customary law of land to be applied, notably the regulation of forms of