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or to a general council, made up of representatives of the different Tung.
Each council of the Tung contains representatives of the villages which make up the Tung. In addition to a council of a Tung there is a general council for the whole of the Tung Lo or Eastern Section, which is practically that portion of the district of San On contained in the map attached to the Convention. This general council is styled the Tung Ping Kuk or Council of Peace for the Eastern Section. It has its council chamber at the market town of Sham Chun, which is regarded as the centre of the Eastern Section. If the decision of the council of the Tung, or of the General Council is not regarded as satisfactory, an appeal lies to the magistrate of the district.24
Villages must occasionally have made their own rules. There is an interesting survival of these written on a wooden board which hangs in one of the side rooms of the Yeung Hau Wong temple at Tung Chung on Lantau Island, which is dated in the third moon of the nineteenth year of the Kwong Shui reign (1893). The text refers to the passing of the good old days and lays down measures to deal with offenders. For stealing crops, cutting down pine and bamboo trees, for letting pigs or buffaloes graze on other people's fields, there were fines in cash
a proportion of which went to the person who caught the culprit. He was to be escorted to the Heung council office, and should he refuse to pay after a hearing there, he was to be taken
before the magistrate. It was drawn up by the Tung Chung Hap Heung or all the villages of the Tung Chung
東涌合鄉 valley.
A few words on the elders and gentry may be appropriate here. An elder was an older villager whose character, influence, and senior generation in the clan entitled him to a say in its affairs. He was more to the fore in the remoter villages of the district, which were generally the poorer ones, and could not afford to support literati, as they are sometimes styled, which is what the gentry really were in the Chinese context. These were persons of considerable influence who came generally from the larger, richer villages of the plains, which had one or more village schools where the elements of a classical education could be obtained. In course of time, by dint of hard study at home or in Canton, the cleverer among the local scholars, after successful
84
+
+
J. W. HAYES
or to a general council, made up of representatives of the different Tung.
Each council of the Tung contains representatives of the villages which make up the Tung. In addition to a council of a Tung there is a general council for the whole of the Tung Lo or Eastern Section, which is practically that portion of the district of San On contained in the map attached to the Convention. This general council is styled the Tung Ping Kuk or Council of Peace for the Eastern Section. It has its council chamber at the market town of Sham Chun which is regarded as the centre of the Eastern Section. If the decision of the council of the Tung. or of the General Council is not regarded as satisfactory, an appeal lies to the magistrate of the district.24
Villages must occasionally have made their own rules. There is an interesting survival of these written on a wooden board which hangs in one of the side rooms of the Yeung Hau Wong temple at Tung Chung on Lantau Island, which is dated in the third moon of the nineteenth year of the Kwong Shui reign (1893). The text refers to the passing of the good old days and lays down measures to deal with offenders. For stealing crops, cutting down pine and bamboo trees, for letting pigs or buffaloes graze on other people's fields there were fines in cash
a proportion of which went to the person who caught the culprit. He was to be escorted to the heung council office, and should he refuse to pay after a hearing there, he was to be taken
before the magistrate. It was drawn up by the Tung Chung Hap Heung or all the villages of the Tung Chung
東涌合鄉 valley.
A few words on the elders and gentry may be appropriate here. An elder was an older villager whose character, influence and senior generation in the clan entitled him to a say in its affairs. He was more to the fore in the remoter villages of the district which were generally the poorer ones, and could not afford to support literati, as they are sometimes styled, which is what the gentry really were in the Chinese context. These were persons of considerable influence who came generally from the larger, richer villages of the plains which had one or more village schools where the elements of a classical education could be obtained. In course of time by dint of hard study at home or in Canton the cleverer among the local scholars, after successful
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