Tenant farmers had to hand half the harvest over to the landlord.
Tips
history
The 佃农 / 地主 (dìzhǔ, landlord) relationship was the central social fault line of pre-1949 rural China and the target of the 1950 Land Reform Law (土地改革法), which redistributed land to former tenants.
memory
佃 (rent/lease land) + 农 (farmer) = a farmer who rents land. The 田 (field) inside 佃 is a visual hook - the character is literally 'person + field'.
