ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the emergence of modern land administration in East Asia. It argues that colonialism brought the concept of individualist land ownership to indigenous society, along with Western surveying techniques, the changes that resulted altered the relationship of the state to its citizens, and, therefore, the structure of local societies. The book shows that early British land administration changed the ceded areas of Hong Kong into a society where powerful, lineage-based landowners lost their land, and long-term tenants became landowners. It also shows how the education department in new colony drew up plans to finance primary education in counties in order to promote Japanese language and culture. The book documents the land reform in Korea from 1890 to 1920, focusing on two types of land owned by traditional government institutions, the post station lands and the public office lands.
