lĩnh canh
Definition
- Verb:
- To undertake/sharecrop land: The primary meaning of "lĩnh canh" is to receive or take on agricultural land from another party (typically a landowner) for the purpose of cultivating it. The cultivator usually pays rent or gives a share of the harvest to the landowner.
- To contract to farm: It refers to the act of entering into an agreement to farm land that one does not own.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Gia đình ông ấy lĩnh canh ba mẫu ruộng của địa chủ. (His family undertook/sharecropped three acres of the landlord's field.)
- Người nông dân lĩnh canh đất và phải nộp tô. (The farmer contracted to farm the land and had to pay rent.)
Advanced Usage
- Historically, "lĩnh canh" was a common agricultural practice in pre-modern Vietnam, forming a key part of feudal or landlord-tenant relationships.
- The term implies a formal or recognized arrangement, not merely informal borrowing of land.
Variants and Related Words
- Cấy rẽ (v): A closely related term meaning to cultivate someone else's land for a share of the crop; it often overlaps with "lĩnh canh."
- Làm thuê (v): to work as hired labor. This differs as it involves wages, not a share of the harvest.
- Tá điền (n): tenant farmer; the person who performs "lĩnh canh."
Synonyms
- To sharecrop: to work land owned by another for a share of the produce.
- To tenant-farm: to cultivate rented land.
- To lease land (for cultivation): to hold land under a lease agreement.
Related Concepts
- Địa tô (n): land rent; the payment (often in kind) made by the person who "lĩnh canh."
- Phát canh (v): the counterpart action; for a landowner to allot land to others for cultivation. A landlord "phát canh" land to a tenant who "lĩnh canh" it.