Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills/Book 2/Mortgages
Mortgages 典當 tien tang.
To mortgage to the utmost value of the property, when the mortgagee has the right to farm the land, is ying tang kuo ching 硬當過耕. This is equivalent to a sale, but the mortgagee "saves his face" by not selling; or he is allowed to find tenants to farm the land; this is almost the same as the other. When the former owner reserves the right to farm the land himself it is called ti tang tzǔ ching 地當自耕. This is reckoned a dangerous speculation, especially if the mortgagee is an unscrupulous man.
To change the rental into a mortgage; to add the deposit on property till it amounts to a mortgage is chiu tien chia tang 就佃加當.
To make the mortgage into a purchase by adding a little money (very probably more than the property is worth) is chiu tang chia tang 就當加當. To make the deposit of rental so heavy that it is really a mortgage, no rental or a nominal one is paid to the owner, but he saves his face by saying it is a rental. This is termed ming tien an tang 明佃暗當. Sometimes a property is mortgaged then rented back to live in, tang ch‘u tien hui 當出佃囘. The necessity of moving the family idols is thus avoided, but it is a method that causes much trouble afterwards.
To mortgage a second time owing to the original owner being unable to redeem the property is chuan tang 轉當.
Ting ta 頂打 or ting tang is a kind of mortgage which is more stringent than the ordinary kind, and is almost equivalent to a purchase, without it being so stated. These are more difficult to manage than a pure mortgage; a rental has to be paid, but it is almost impossible to turn the mortgagee out. The neighbours need to be notified of these proceedings to make them binding upon them. This of course means a feast. ***