Market Gardening License
Date Published
: Traditional
: AI
Market Gardening License with Chinese notice
A translation of the Chinese reads:
Let it be known to the people of Tang (the Chinese):
The Prefectural and Provincial Governors jointly appointed our bureau to administer.
Proclaimed by Soo Heong Seng and Lock Yook Kow in the ninth year [of the Emperor’s reign]
that this land is established as Imperial property.
Those who make petitions or claims must act according to these regulations.
Each register shall pay one silver brick annually as the standard due.
All must follow the rules engraved on the reverse and not act contrary to them.
Note:
The Chinese script mimics Qing bureaucratic format, even using terms like “Imperial Land” (皇家地里立), giving the document a sense of legitimacy recognizable to Chinese readers.
The phrase “唐人知道” (“let the people of Tang know”) was a standard way of addressing Chinese subjects abroad.
Soo Heong Seng & Lock Yook Kow are likely the translator and a community leader who insert themselves as "Officials" to give the document legitimacy in the eyes of Chinese gardeners.