Because the general impression among country people is that overseas Chinese are rich, farmers who have made a fortune by selling off their land are called t'ien-ch'iao, or "overseas Chinese from the fields," while those who still till the soil but whose land has appreciated in value are called yuan-wai, or "supernumerary officials."
以前林家的「佃農」都因土地而「貴」。由於鄉下人對華僑的印象﹘﹘有錢，因此把擁有田地的農人賣地發財後稱為「田僑」，還在耕作只是土地價值高漲的稱為「員外」。