Page "Traditional Chinese law" Paragraph 60

Use of property was divided into topsoil ( tianpi ) and subsoil ( tiangu ) rights.

Landlords with subsoil rights had a permanent claim to the property if they paid taxes and received official seals from the government, but did not have rights to actively use the land.

Instead, those with topsoil rights paid the subsoil landlord a fixed rent ( or part of the proceeds of what was produced on the land ) for not only the right to farm and live on the land, but the right to independently sell or lease the topsoil rights to another party.

So as long as another party held topsoil rights, the party holding subsoil did not have right to actively use the land or evict the topsoil owner.

Land, like other forms of property, was seen as being held collectively by the family and not individuals within the family.

Another concept in imperial Chinese property rights was dianmai ( 典賣 / 典卖 ), more commonly known as huomai ( 活賣 / 活卖 ), or conditional sales of property that allowed the seller ( i. e., his family ) to buy back the land at the original price ( without interest ).

The assumption was that land, having been held by a family for generations, should stay with the same family.