ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines several fundamental ideas of land administration that underpinned those leases. Colonial land administration dispossessed powerful, lineage-based landowners and allowed long-term tenants to become landowners. The details of a legal case that unfolded even as the Opium War was raging illustrate well the insistence of the colonial regime on direct administration of its tax regime on land. The case involved the absentee landlords of land located on Hong Kong Island, the Xin'an magistrate, and the British colonial government. The idea that claimants to land who could not produce "red deeds" were referred to as "squatter" requires comment, as the concept came to play a major role in Hong Kong land law. For instance, in March 1865 the Dengs put in a claim for a 48-acre farm lot at Kowloon. The Dengs' claim was verified, and then, although the land was a farm lot, given a long lease, in virtual perpetuity, of 999 years.
