Patrick H. Hase
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9789888139088
- eISBN:
- 9789888180707
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139088.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Many sales took place during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong 1941-1945. The surviving land deeds reflected a traditional society breaking down as people sold their trust property. These ...
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Many sales took place during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong 1941-1945. The surviving land deeds reflected a traditional society breaking down as people sold their trust property. These transactions sometimes happened without a middleman or a family council. The deeds written during this period contained odd grammar and did not state the reason of alienation: perhaps starvation and extreme poverty were so widespread that there was no reason to state it. Deeds also reflect the Japanese presence in the different territories. In the areas where the Japanese presence was thin, like Sai Kung, the deeds stated sale prices in Hong Kong dollars, and dated the transaction by the year of the Republic. In areas under heavier control of the Japanese, such as Lok Ma Chau and Lantau, the deeds stated prices in Military Yen and were dated by the Showa year.Less
Many sales took place during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong 1941-1945. The surviving land deeds reflected a traditional society breaking down as people sold their trust property. These transactions sometimes happened without a middleman or a family council. The deeds written during this period contained odd grammar and did not state the reason of alienation: perhaps starvation and extreme poverty were so widespread that there was no reason to state it. Deeds also reflect the Japanese presence in the different territories. In the areas where the Japanese presence was thin, like Sai Kung, the deeds stated sale prices in Hong Kong dollars, and dated the transaction by the year of the Republic. In areas under heavier control of the Japanese, such as Lok Ma Chau and Lantau, the deeds stated prices in Military Yen and were dated by the Showa year.
