NOTES AND QUERIES
153
tinuing solidarity and sense of community is, I believe, quite noteworthy. The indigenous multilineage alliance feels threatened by the changes imposed on its quiet valley both by the influx of immigrant farmers and by the new government development plans. In the tun fu ceremonies, I would suggest, it fights back symbolically at both foes. The government is committed to keeping, at least symbolically, the promise made by Blake that Chinese "usages and good customs will not in any way be interfered with." Although these villagers are in reality helpless in the face of tumultuous change, they can in the short run pressure the government to give them "face" by providing financial support for the ritual reaffirmation of their exclusive symbolic rights in the lands of their ancestors. The presence of the outsiders in Fung Yuen, ritual statement notwithstanding, is very real, as is the power of the state which is likely to claim more than the domains of the Green Dragon and the White Tiger in the very near future. In the meantime, the tun fu ceremonies, like other rituals, provide us a glimpse of the structure of social as well as religious meaning in a sector of Chinese society that carries on old traditions in a changing world.
Berkeley, California, 1982
JUDITH STRAUCH
LYCHEES OF TSANG SHING COUNTY, KWANGTUNG.
In May 1979 I was invited to inaugurate a new term of office-bearers of the New Territories Tsang Shing Fellow Countrymen's Association*4, and at dinner enquired into special local products. Among other items, a rare type of lychee was mentioned. The lychee is a kind of sub-species, and is supposed to be red with a green stripe. None of the persons at the table had seen it, and in conversation they presumed that it came into the category of folk myth.
(1921),
2. The latest edition of the country gazetteer chüan 9/3a has this to say about the lychees of Tsang Shing District:
Sei Mong Kong in Sa Pui, Tsang Shing County, produces the prime quality of lychee in Kwangtung because the soil there is rich and sandy. Species ranging from "Kwa Luk" (##) to
NOTES AND QUERIES
153
tinuing solidarity and sense of community is, I believe, quite note- worthy. The indigenous multilineage alliance feels threatened by the changes imposed on its quiet valley both by the influx of immigrant farmers and by the new government development plans. In the tun fu ceremonies, I would suggest, it fights back symboli- cally at both foes. The government is committed to keeping, at least symbolically, the promise made by Blake that Chinese "usages and good customs will not in any way be interfered with." Although these villagers are in reality helpless in the face of tumultuous change, they can in the short run pressure the government to give them "face" by providing financial support for the ritual reaffirma- tion of their exclusive symbolic rights in the lands of their ancestors. The presence of the outsiders in Fung Yuen, ritual statement not- withstanding, is very real, as is the power of the state which is likely to claim more than the domains of the Green Dragon and the White Tiger in the very near future. In the meantime, the tun fu ceremonies, like other rituals, provide us a glimpse of the structure of social as well as religious meaning in a sector of Chinese society that carries on old traditions in a changing world.
Berkeley, California, 1982
JUDITH STRAUCH
LYCHEES OF TSANG SHING COUNTY, KWANGTUNG.
In May 1979 I was invited to inaugurate a new term of office- bearers of the New Territories Tsang Shing Fellow Countrymen's Association ** ̄*4), and at dinner enquired into special local products. Among other items, a rare type of lychee was mentioned. The lychee is a kind of
posed to be red with a green stripe.
sub-species, and is sup- None of the persons at the
table had seen it, and in conversation they presumed that it came into the category of folk myth.
(1921),
2. The latest edition of the country gazetteer chüan 9/3a has this to say about the lychees of Tsang Shing District:
Sei Mong Kong in Sa Pui, Tsang Shing County, produces the prime quality of lychee in Kwangtung because the soil there is rich and sandy. Species ranging from "Kwa Luk” (##) to
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