THE  GOVERNMENT

73
privileges,  of  prescriptive  rights  in  crops,  may,  in  details,
differ  from  district  to  district,  will  probably  differ  from
En  to  Fu,  and  will  certainly  differ  from  province  to  province.
Such  differences  are,  however,  immaterial  ;  the  man  of
the  country  knows  possibly  only  his  own  village  and  is  not
concerned  with  any  district  other  than  his  own.  That
local  custom  in  an  adjoining  district  would  alienate  from
him  the  foreshore  accretion  to  his  own  farm  concerns  him
but  little,  if  the  custom  of  his  own  district  grants  it  to
himself  ;  while  the  resident  in  the  former  does  not  think
of  claiming  rights  which  were  never  claimed  by  his  fathers.
In  matters  of  taxation,  too,  custom  is  the  guiding  principle.
The  government  and  the  tax-collector  are  always  trying
to  get  more  ;  this  is  understood  ;  but  the  people,  strongbased
  on  custom,  maintain  an  unending  struggle  to  pay
this  year  no  more  than  they  paid  last  year,  and  increment
is  wrung  from  them  only  after  an  annually  renewed  contest.
In  case  of  a  general  and  marked  increase  the  struggle  is
more  pronounced,  and  may  lead  to  riot  and  arson  in  the
case  of  villagers,  and  in  the  case  of  traders  to  the  peculiarly
Chiuese  method  of  resistance,  the  “  cessation  of  business,”
a  combination  of  lock-out,  strike,  and  boycott—a  strong
weapon  against  the  magistrate,  whose  one  aim  is  to  serve
his  term  without  a  disturbance  sufficiently  grave  to  come
to  the  notice  of  his  superiors.
The  official  head  of  the  village  is  the  Tipao,  “  Land
Warden,”  nominated  by  the  magistrate  from  the  village
elders,  but  dependent  upon  the  good  will  of  his  constituents.
Several  small  villages  may  be  joined  under  one  Tipao,  and
a  large  village  will  be  divided  into  two  or  three  wards,  each
with  its  Tipao  ;  while  a  village  which,  as  is  often  the  case,
consists  of  the  branches  of  one  family  holding  its  property
in  undivided  commonalty,  will  have  naturally  as  its  Tipao
the  head  of  the  family.  The  Tipao  acts  as  constable,  and
is  responsible  for  the  good  conduct  and  moral  behavior
of  every  one  of  his  constituents  ;  he  is  also  responsible  for
the  due  payment  of  land  tax  and  tribute.  He  is  the  official
land-surveyor  of  his  village,  and  has  the  duty  of  verifying