Democratic Reform in Tibet——Sixty Years On

The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China

March 2019

　　Contents

　　Preamble 

　　 I. Feudal Serfdom: A Dark History  

　　 II. Irresistible Historical Trend 

　　 III. Abolishing Feudal Serfdom 

　　 IV. The People Have Become Masters of Their Own Affairs 

　　 V. Liberating and Developing the Productive Forces 

　　 VI. Promoting a Range of Undertakings 

　　 VII. Enhancing Ecological Progress 

　　 VIII. Protecting the Freedom of Religious Belief 

　　 IX. Strengthening Ethnic Equality and Unity 

　　 X. Development of Tibet in the New Era 

　　Conclusion

　　IV. The People Have Become Masters of Their Own Affairs

　　Through democratic reform, feudal serfdom under theocracy in Tibet was abolished completely, bringing fundamental changes to the Tibetan social system. It was a historic leap. Due to democratic reform, about one million serfs were liberated. They gained personal freedom and became masters of the new society. The completion of the reform laid a solid foundation for the establishment of socialism in Tibet.

　　– One million serfs were liberated and gained personal freedom.

　　When feudal land ownership was abolished in democratic reform, serfs were no longer treated arbitrarily by serf owners as their private property, and the personal ownership of serfs by serf owners came to an end.

　　Tibet’s democratic reform destroyed the institutional shackles which infringed serfs’ rights to subsistence, marriage, migration, residence, work, personal freedom, human dignity, and education. Thanks to this reform, one million serfs gained true personal freedom. Anna Louise Strong, a renowned American journalist and activist, included the remarks by a serf interviewee in her book When Serfs Stood up in Tibet: “Always I wanted to send my son to school to learn to read and to have some trade like a tailor. This was impossible, but now my son has gone to study in the interior and when he comes back he will be a skilled worker for a factory. He will not be weighed down by all those things that weighed down my head.”

　　Through democratic reform, all feudal privileges of monasteries were annulled. Monks and nuns gained equal rights and the right to be the masters of their own destiny. Many of those who were at the bottom of the hierarchy broke free of their religious bondage and resumed secular life. In Ganden Monastery alone, more than 300 monks demanded to return home or resume secular life in the surrounding areas of the monastery. The local government granted them the fare for their journey home and a settlement allowance. It also found jobs for 13 young monks who asked for employment at the Lhasa Department Store Company, and sent some child monks to school. As to the 312 monks who wanted to stay at the monastery, the local government made arrangements to ensure their daily life. In democratic reform, the system by which monasteries assigned monk and nun quotas to counties, manors and tribes was abolished. Monasteries were prohibited from coercing people to become monks or nuns.

　　– People’s governments were established at various levels for the people to exercise their rights.

　　On March 28, 1959, the State Council announced that the government of Tibet was dissolved. The Qamdo People’s Liberation Committee and the Panchen Kampus Assembly were also abolished, thus ending the coexistence of political powers of different nature. Under the leadership of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region, people’s governments were gradually set up at various levels. In mid-July, 1959, the first township-level peasants’ association, known as the Peasants’ Association of Khesum Village, and the first county-level peasants’ association, known as the Peasants’ Association of Nedong County, were established. Former serfs were elected as chairs or members of the associations, leading the people to conduct democratic reform. By the end of 1960, Tibet had established 1,009 organs of state power at township level, 283 at district level, 78 at county level and eight at prefecture (city) level. The number of officials from Tibetan and other minority ethnic groups totaled over 10,000. More than 4,400 liberated serfs became officials at community level. In the second half of 1961, a general election was held all over Tibet. For the first time, the former serfs were no longer regarded as “speaking tools”, and emerged on the political stage as the masters of the new Tibet.