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The central people's government and the local government of Tibet
signed in 1951 the 17-Article Agreement on measures for the peaceful
liberation of Tibet, and Tibet was peacefully liberated. This brought
hope to the Tibetan people in their struggle for equal personal
rights. After the quelling of the armed rebellion in 1959, the central
people's government, in compliance with the wishes of the Tibetan
people, conducted the Democratic Reform in Tibet and abolished the
extremely decadent and dark feudal serfdom. The million serfs and
slaves were emancipated. They were no longer regarded as the personal
property of serf-owners who could use them for transactions, transfer,
mortgage for a debt or exchange or exact their toil. From that time
on they gained the right to personal freedom. This was a great,
epoch-making change in Tibetan history.
Now old Tibet's codes have been abrogated. Citizens are no longer
divided into three classes and nine ranks. All sorts of barbarous
punishments are prohibited and privately established prisons have
all been dismantled. New China's Constitution and laws guarantee
that every Tibetan enjoys the right to subsistence and personal
safety.
The Democratic Reform abolished the ownership of the means of production
by serf-owners. The farmland originally occupied by those serf-owners
involved in the armed rebellion was distributed free to landless
serfs and slaves. In Kesong Manor, Nedong County in Shannan Prefecture,
443 peasants were given 1,696 ke of land. When the title
deeds for land and debt contracts were thrown into the fire, the
former serfs danced around the blaze. The 75-year-old Soinam said,
"I used to till the land of my master, and I belonged to him day
and night. When asked to do corvee at midnight, I dared not wait
till dawn the next day. Now I have received land. I feel I can sleep
well and have a good appetite. I really want to live several years
longer so that I can see the happy future." A policy of redemption
was introduced with regard to the land and other means of production
of serf-owners who did not participate in the rebellion. The 900,000
ke of land and over 820,000 head of livestock of the 1,300
serf-owners and their agents, who did not participate in the rebellion,
were redeemed by the state at a cost topping 45 million yuan.
The Tibetan laboring people no longer suffer from the heavy corvee
taxes and usurious exploitation by the serf-owners. The fruits of
their labor all belong to themselves, and the enthusiasm of the
Tibetan people for production became unprecedentedly high. The region's
grain output in 1960 increased by 12.6 percent over 1959 and the
number of livestock by 10 percent. The Tibetan people began to enjoy
the right to subsistence, along with adequate food and clothing.
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