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1. Background: Historical Facts of Tibet and Dalai Lama.
2. Feudal serfdom before 1959.
3. Facts and Figures of Tibetan development
4. 50th Anniversary of Serfs Emancipation and Democratic Reform in Tibet
1. Background: Historical Facts of Tibet and Dalai Lama
China is a unified multi-ethnic country and Tibet is an inalienable part of China. The Tibetans cultivated a close relationship with Han and other ethnic groups from the Chinese interior since ancient times and has been under the jurisdiction of the central government for more than 700 years since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). In the mid-13th century, Tibet was officially incorporated into the territory of China's Yuan Dynasty. Since then, although China experienced several dynastic changes, Tibet has remained under the jurisdiction of the central government of China.
The present 14th Dalai Lama was born in Qinghai Province. Originally named Lhamo Toinzhub, he was selected as one of the incarnate boys at the age of 2. Chiang Kai-shek, then head of the central government, approved Tibetan Regent Razheng's request to waive the lot-drawing convention, and the chairman of the national government issued an official decree conferring the title of the 14th Dalai Lama on Lhamo Toinzhub.
In February 1951, the Dalai Lama sent his delegates to Beijing to handle with full power the negotiations with the central people's government and signed a 17-point agreement. The Dalai Lama later telegraphed chairman Mao Zedong, saying the local Tibetan government and Tibetan monks supported the central government's leadership.
In 1954 the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama came to Beijing to attend the First Session of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China. In his speech at the congress, the Dalai Lama fully confirmed the achievements in the implementation of the 17-Article Agreement over the preceding three years, and expressed his warm support for the principles and provisions concerning national regional autonomy in the draft of New China's first Constitution. At the session, the Dalai Lama was elected a vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. In his capacity as state leader, he exercised his rights of participating in the management of state affairs in accordance with the Constitution.
But in 1959, the Dalai Lama supported an armed insurgency in Tibet. He fled to India after it failed and formed a "government in exile". Since then, he has time and again repeated his calls to separate Tibet from China.
Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)
2. Feudal serfdom before 1959
Tibet before 1959 was a society of feudal serfdom. According to the Thirteen and Sixteen laws - the Tibetan feudal legal codes that were compiled in the 17th and 18th centuries and were applied until 1959 - Tibetans were divided into three social strata within nine grades according to their family background and social status. The serfs and house-slaves who accounted for 95 percent of the population were the property of serf owners. Even their offspring became the property of the serf owners from birth. The serf-owners' economic interests were protected by a political system that combined political and religious powers, ruling over the Tibetan people spiritually as well as politically. The wealth of the society was highly concentrated. More than 80 percent was possessed by the manorial lords and less than 20 percent belonged to the serfs, The masses of serfs lived in extreme poverty. Some serf owners tortured their slaves by chopping off their feet and hands, gouging out their eyeballs, cutting off their tongues or pushing them off cliffs. They could do this legally, because they were protected by the Thirteen and Sixteen Laws.
According to old Tibetan administration records of 1950, kept at the Archive of the Tibet autonomous region, 90 percent of Tibet's 1 million people were homeless. Of the 20,000 in Lhasa at the time, more than 1,000 families lived as beggars.
Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn )
3. Facts and Figures of Tibetan development
The Tibet Autonomous Region, covering one-eighth of China's territory with a population of 2.8 million, has developed rapidly in recent years. Facts and figures speak louder and show how much Tibet has progressed since 1951.
Economy: Tibet has seen its GDP soar from 174 million RMB yuan (25.44 million U.S. dollars) in 1959 to 39.591 billion yuan (5.79 billion dollars) in 2008, with an annual growth rate of 8.9 percent on the average. Today Tibet boasts dozens of industries with local characteristics, including mining, green food and beverage, Tibetan medicine and handicrafts.
Health care: The averaged life expectancy of Tibetan people increased from 35.5 years before Tibet's democratic reform in 1959 to 67 years now. According to the regional health department, 100 percent of farmers and herders are covered by the medical care system.
Education: There was no public education in old Tibet, when less than two percent of school-aged children had access to school education, and the illiteracy rate among work-aged people past 95 percent. At present, six-year compulsory education has been put into practice in all 73 counties in Tibet. Tibetan children learn the Tibetan language as a required course in primary and senior middle schools, which is calculated at least 1,775 hours of Tibetan language teaching. The illiteracy rate among work-aged people dropped to 4.76 percent.
Social life: Based on statistics from the old Tibet authority, some 90 percent of Tibetan people did not have their own housing property. Nowadays, nearly all Tibetans live in permanent houses, except for nomads in pasture areas. To further improve the living standard of Tibetans, a government-sponsored program has helped build new houses for 114,000 households or 570,000 farmers and herdsmen since 2006.
Democratic rights: In 1961, a general election, the first of its kind in Tibetan history, was held all over Tibet. For the first time, the former serfs and slaves were able to enjoy democratic rights as their own masters. Since the founding of the regional government in 1965, Tibetans have exercised their rights bestowed by the Constitution and laws to elect and be elected. The organ of self-government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has been elected and led mainly by Tibetans and people of other ethnic minority groups.
Culture: China has earmarked 700 million yuan (100 million U.S. dollars) from the state budget for preservation of cultural relics in Tibet. Over 4,000 religious spots have been preserved and open to public. Among 4,000 cultural workers in art troupes and institutions, 90 percent are Tibetans, a large number of whom are young talents.
4. 50th Anniversary of Serfs Emancipation and Democratic Reform in Tibet
Tibetan legislators endorsed a bill on Jan 19 this year to designate March 28 as an annual Serfs Emancipation Day, to mark the date on which about 1 million serfs in the region were freed 50 years ago.
"Serfs Emancipation Day" will take place every year on March 28.
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.
The move came after the central government foiled an armed rebellion staged by the Dalai Lama and his supporters, most of whom were slave owners attempting to maintain serfdom.
That meant the end of serfdom and the abolition of the hierarchic social system characterized by theocracy, with the Dalai Lama as the core of the leadership. About 1 million serfs and slaves, accounting for 90 percent of Tibetan population in the1950s, were thus freed. Serfdom-based feudal regimes of all levels were toppled and the people's democratic rule was established in Tibet. The Democratic Reform was launched, in which the liberated serfs were given cultivated land and cattle, for the first time in their lives.
Extended Reading
4A. China publishes white paper to mark 50th anniversary of reform in Tibet
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/02/content_10928003.htm
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