A Centennial Transformation Of "Tso" And "Tong" Land Dispute Regulations In The New Territories,Hong Kong(1898-1997)

“Tso” and “Tong” are a traditional organization where families or clans in the New Territories of Hong Kong hold land and share its interests.In ancient China,the resolution of tso and tong land disputes mainly followed customary law and ethics,during this process,a mature dispute resolution mechanism and regulations were formed.When the New Territories were leased in 1898,the British colonists carried out a series of land administration and legislation,and brought the land of tso and tong under formal management through judiciary.After World War II,tso and tong land dispute regulations ushered in a real transformation period.With the capitalization of tso and tong land,more and more disputes are settled through litigation.During the judicial process,the trust law was introduced to deal with tso and tong land disputes,tso and tong were also regarded as a special kind of trust.During the transformation period,tso and tong land disputes are mainly manifested in three aspects—the conflict between the tradition of permanent land holding by tso and tong and the trust law rule against perpetuities;The contradiction between customary law and the capitalization of tso and tong land,and disputes related to the distribution of interests of tso and tong land;the disputes of the power and obligations of tso and tong Sze lei(managers).Both legislation and precedents affirm the priority of customary law in tso and tong land disputes.However,the application of customary law is superficial.The procedural thinking of British law,the use of the concept of trust and the application of jurisprudence are all in place,modern factors have been injected into tso and tong land dispute regulations.Villagers in the New Territories have also begun to re-plan the rights and obligations related to tso and tong land based on the trust law.People’s attitudes towards tso and tong have changed,and to a certain extent,women’s rights have also received attention.Although at the judicial level,there is not much controversy about the conclusion that tso and tong are trusts,the essential differences between tso and tong and trust make the two incompatible.It is difficult to form logical self-consistency in jurisprudence to equate tso and tong with trust.In tso and tong land dispute regulations,customary law and tradition still have vitality—this is because it is still restrained by patriarchal forces under collaborative colonialism.In order to defend the interests obtained in the tradition,the squires who originally had extensive influence in the New Territories cooperated with the British colonists.While obtaining more institutionalized power,the squires continued to emphasize the tradition and the particularity of the New Territories.Indigenous residents also continue to strengthen their identity and traditional value recognition,and resist the denunciation of their land privileges by non-indigenous groups and female pressure groups.Therefore,tso and tong land dispute regulations have stagnated between tradition and modernity.Jitian(Offering—sacrifice—to—land)in Chinese Mainland and Worship guilds in Taiwan are all family property,just like tso and tong land.However,completely different from the transformation of tso and tong land dispute regulations,the transformation of the dispute regulations of Jitian and Worship guilds mainly depends on the promotion of policies and legislation.They are defined as "co-ownership" or "legal person" and incorporated into the civil law.Transformation at the judicial level is preceded by changes at the legislative and policy levels.However,the transformation of tso and tong land dispute regulations are centered on judiciary—It relies on resolving disputes by cases,and the application of British law,the promotion of internal forces from the New Territories villages.This is also the particularity of the transformation of tso and tong land dispute regulations.This particularity has left many problems.The continuous effectiveness of customary law and the rigidity of traditional practices have restricted the release of tso and tong land,which has become a constraint for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China government to solve land issues—Tso and tong land dispute regulations are in urgent need of re-examination.