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Serf day to celebrate Tibetan emancipation
Source: Xinhua |
January 17, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
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TIBETAN legislators proposed yesterday to set up a Serfs Emancipation Day that will be celebrated on March 28 every year to commemorate the emancipation of millions of serfs in the region 50 years ago.
The motion, submitted to the second annual session of the ninth regional People's Congress, the regional legislature, will be reviewed by 387 law makers.
Tubdain Cewang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, explained the bill to the session yesterday morning.
The bill, which will be reviewed today, is expected to be endorsed at the end of the session, which runs until Monday.
The serfs were freed 50 years ago after the central government foiled an uprising staged by the Dalai Lama and his supporters with assistance from some Western powers.
Tibet became part of China in the 13th century under the governance of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). In 1951, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, People's Liberation Army went into Tibet after the signing of a peaceful liberation agreement between the central government and Tibetan local government.
In 1956, China set up a preparatory committee for the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, while many local people were proposing the reform of the 1,000-year-old serfs system in Tibet. However, on August 18, 1956, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to the 14th Dalai Lama, saying it was not the right time for Tibet to undertake a reform program.
In another message to the religious leader, Mao said it was left to the Dalai Lama to decide whether or not to start the reform process after six years had elapsed.
Armed revolt
However, the Dalai Lama and some serf owners launched the armed rebellion, which some Chinese historians say was aimed at continuing the feudal serf system indefinitely.
The People's Liberation Army quelled the rebellion and the Dalai Lama fled to India where he established a government in exile. Later, reforms were introduced to end the feudal serfdom and abolish the hierarchic, theocratic social system with the Dalai Lama at the core of its leadership.
On March 28, 1959, the central government announced it would dissolve the aristocratic local government of Tibet and replace it with a preparatory committee for establishing the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Gama Dainba, a law maker from the region's Shannan area, said setting a commemorative day would be a gift to his parents, who were once serfs. It would also serve to remind youths not to forget history.
Documents from the Tibetan Autonomous Region Archives Bureau showed serf owners -- mostly officials, nobles and lamas -- who accounted for 5 percent of the total population of the old Tibet occupied all the farming land and pastures and most of the livestock.
Serfs, who accounted for more than 90 percent of the population in old Tibet, were treated as private property by their owners. They had no personal freedom. Their owners could punish them, buy and sell them, give them away as gifts, whip them and even kill them.
The motion, submitted to the second annual session of the ninth regional People's Congress, the regional legislature, will be reviewed by 387 law makers.
Tubdain Cewang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, explained the bill to the session yesterday morning.
The bill, which will be reviewed today, is expected to be endorsed at the end of the session, which runs until Monday.
The serfs were freed 50 years ago after the central government foiled an uprising staged by the Dalai Lama and his supporters with assistance from some Western powers.
Tibet became part of China in the 13th century under the governance of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). In 1951, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, People's Liberation Army went into Tibet after the signing of a peaceful liberation agreement between the central government and Tibetan local government.
In 1956, China set up a preparatory committee for the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, while many local people were proposing the reform of the 1,000-year-old serfs system in Tibet. However, on August 18, 1956, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to the 14th Dalai Lama, saying it was not the right time for Tibet to undertake a reform program.
In another message to the religious leader, Mao said it was left to the Dalai Lama to decide whether or not to start the reform process after six years had elapsed.
Armed revolt
However, the Dalai Lama and some serf owners launched the armed rebellion, which some Chinese historians say was aimed at continuing the feudal serf system indefinitely.
The People's Liberation Army quelled the rebellion and the Dalai Lama fled to India where he established a government in exile. Later, reforms were introduced to end the feudal serfdom and abolish the hierarchic, theocratic social system with the Dalai Lama at the core of its leadership.
On March 28, 1959, the central government announced it would dissolve the aristocratic local government of Tibet and replace it with a preparatory committee for establishing the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Gama Dainba, a law maker from the region's Shannan area, said setting a commemorative day would be a gift to his parents, who were once serfs. It would also serve to remind youths not to forget history.
Documents from the Tibetan Autonomous Region Archives Bureau showed serf owners -- mostly officials, nobles and lamas -- who accounted for 5 percent of the total population of the old Tibet occupied all the farming land and pastures and most of the livestock.
Serfs, who accounted for more than 90 percent of the population in old Tibet, were treated as private property by their owners. They had no personal freedom. Their owners could punish them, buy and sell them, give them away as gifts, whip them and even kill them.
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