Trust or Corporation? Problems of Governance in the Management of Chinese Lineage Property

The use of the “tang” or hall organization as a mechanism to control property was customary in Chinese society. After the establishment of Hong Kong as a British colony, urban Hong Kong law did not recognize the “tang” organization as being distinctive in any way, nor did the Hong Kong government adjust colonial law to take into account the existence of “tang”. Instead, British trust law was directly applied to handle the Chinese “tang”. Legal disputes over the tang property of the Jida Ye (Gut Tai Ip) lineage of Xiangshan county that were brought to the Hong Kong courts illustrate the process by which the Chinese tang was adapted to English trust law.