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Serfs Emancipation Day celebrated

— Photo: Xinhua

In high spirits: Losang Quzhen (68) learns how to use electric cooker from her daughter in Nedong County, Tibet Autonomous Region, on Saturday.

LHASA: A grand ceremony celebrating Tibet’s first Serfs Emancipation Day started at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the square in front of the Potala Palace in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The meeting was presided over in both Tibetan language and Mandarin by Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the regional government of Tibet, who was dressed in a traditional Tibetan robe. It was attended by about 13,280 people.

After the national flag was hoisted against the backdrop of the grand Potala Palace and snow-capped mountains in the distance, representatives of former serfs, soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and students delivered speeches.

Tsondre, a 69-year-old farmer from a suburb of Lhasa, recalled changes in his life after the democratic reform. “I was born to a serf’s family and was made a monk in the Sera Monastery when I was young,” he said, adding he would never forget his tragedy. He was at the lowest strata in the monastery; doing all kinds of chores throughout the year and did not get enough food.

“Due to starvation, many people like me went out to beg for food, but if we were discovered by monks at upper levels, we could be clubbed or cowhided.”

Sun Huanxun, a veteran PLA soldier who came to Tibet in 1950 and stayed on, recalled the scene he saw in Lhasa before the democratic reform.

“Slaves wailed and begged from passers-by, some had their legs chopped off by landlords, some had their eyes gouged out and some were without hands,” he said. On the contrary, the landlords lived in luxury.

“In their houses hung whips, knives and shackles,” he added.

After the democratic reform, serfs were given land, cattle and means of production. “Now new buildings have mushroomed and our deposits have grown, [a] road was built to my home, television and telephone came to my house, all the children could receive education...the change was dramatic,” said Mr. Tsondre.

“If some people want to separate our country and destroy our happiness, we would never agree,” he said.

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.

That meant the end of serfdom and the abolition of the hierarchic social system characterised by theocracy.

Tibetan legislators endorsed a bill on January 19 this year to designate March 28 as annual Serfs Emancipation Day to mark the date on which about 1 million serfs in the region, accounting for 90 per cent of Tibetan population, were freed 50 years ago. — Xinhua

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