Introduction / Helen F. Siu and David Faure -- Lineage on the sands : the case of Shawan / Liu Zhiwei -- Territorial community at the town of Lubao, Sanshui County, from the Ming Dynasty / Luo Yixing -- Ordination names in Hakka genealogies : a religious practice and its decline / Chan Wing-Hoi -- Notes on the territorial connections of the Dan / Ye Xian'en -- Notes and impressions of the Cheung Chau community / James Hayes -- Reinforcing ethnicity : the Jiao Festival in Cheung Chau / Choi Chi-Cheung -- The alliance of ten : settlement and politics in the Sha Tau Kok area / Patrick Hase --Lineage socialism and community control : Tangang Xiang in the 1920s and 1930s / David Faure -- Subverting lineage power : local bosses and territorial control in the 1940s / Helen F. Siu -- Conclusion : History and anthropology / Helen F. Siu and David Faure.