56
J. T. KAMM
2 Throughout these essays, mention will often be made of a truly "watershed" event in the history of Hsin-An: the evacuation of the South China coast, ordered by the Kang Hsi Emperor, from 1661 to 1668. The step was taken to hinder the activities of the Ming loyalist-pirate Cheng Ch'eng-Kung, best known to the West as Coxinga.
3 Field work in Kam Tin took place from May to September, 1973. Other research was undertaken into the Government Archives, Colonial Secretariat Library, and the Fung Ping Shan Library of the University of Hong Kong
ESSAY 1: PERPETUAL TENANCY IN HSIN-AN
A cursory examination of the available evidence on the Ch'ing economy of Hsin-An reveals a seeming paradox: a large tenant population farming a limited amount of cultivatable land, yet enjoying relative prosperity. We shall begin this essay by dissolving the paradox.
The amount of cultivable land in the Tung Lu section of Hsin-An has probably never amounted to more than 15% of the total surface acreage. While the percentage of arable land was higher in the Hsi Lu, Chinese accounts of the area have always stressed the hilly, barren nature of the terrain. For the period we are studying, cultivated land probably accounted for no more than 20% of the land surface of the county.
In general, ownership of productive resources (agricultural fields, fishing grounds, oyster beds, quarries, and salt pans) were concentrated in the hands of landlords who leased them to tenants. Land was seldom worked by the holder of the hung ch'i (lit: “red deed”). In short, Hsin-An during Ch'ing was essentially a tenant economy.
Lockhart, in his Report on the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong, describes the population as follows:
"The inhabitants, by no means wealthy, seem to be, as a rule, comfortably well off, and able to earn an honest livelihood without difficulty. Few signs of anything approaching destitution were seen, and only a few beggars were met."
Lockhart's observations are borne out by an examination of three indices of relative prosperity: 1) low rent and tax burdens, 2) increase in market activity, and 3) population growth through immigration.
56
J. T. KAMM
2 Throughout these essays, mention will often be made of a truly "watershed" event in the history of Hsin-An: the evacuation of the South China coast, ordered by the Kang Hsi Emperor, from 1661 1668. The step was taken to hinder the activities of the Ming loyalist-pirate Cheng Ch'eng-Kung, best known to the West as Coxinga.
-
3 Field work in Kam Tin took place from May to September, 1973. Other research was undertaken into the Government Archives, Colonial Secretariat Library, and the Fung Ping Shan Library of the University of Hong Kong
ESSAY 1: PERPETUAL TENANCY IN HSIN-AN
A cursory examination of the available evidence on the Ch'ing economy of Hsin-An reveals a seeming paradox: a large tenant population farming a limited amount of cultivatable land, yet enjoying relative prosperity. We shall begin this essay by dissolving the paradox.
The amount of cultivable land in the Tung Lu (†★*) section of Hsin-An has probably never amounted to more than 15% of the total surface acreage. While the percentage of arable land was higher in the Hsi Lu (), Chinese accounts of the area have always stressed the hilly, barren nature of the terrain. For the period we are studying, cultivated land probably accounted for no more than 20% of the land surface of the county.
In general, ownership of productive resources (agricultural fields, fishing grounds, oyster beds, quarries, and salt pans) were concen- trated in the hands of landlords who leased them to tenants. Land was seldom worked by the holder of the hung ch'i (#k lit: “red deed").3 In short, Hsin-An during Ch'ing was essentially a tenant economy.4
Lockhart, in his Report on the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong, describes the population as follows:
The inhabitants, by no means wealthy, seem to be, as a rule, comfortably well off, and able to earn an honest livelihood without difficulty. Few signs of anything approaching destitution were seen, and only a few beggars were met."
Lockhart's observations are borne out by an examination of three indices of relative prosperity: 1) low rent and tax burdens, 2) in- crease in market activity, and 3) population growth through im- migration.
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