From serfdom to freedom: A review of Xizang's journey to modernization

Editor's note: Zhang Yongpan is a research fellow and Director of the Xizang Research Office, Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Zhang Hui is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

China's State Council Information Office released a white paper entitled "Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era" on March 28, highlighting the human rights leap across numerous aspects in China's Xizang Autonomous Region over the past decades. On the occasion of the 17th Serfs' Emancipation Day, it's a good time to walk through the great leaps that Xizang experienced from being subjugated to feudal serfdom to embarking on the new voyage towards socialist modernization.

As one form of feudalism, feudal serfdom was an economic system characterized by servitude and exploitation of serfs. Before the democratic reforms, Xizang had been under such a feudal theocratic serfdom system for centuries.

Feudal serfdom in Xizang can be traced back to the 10th century when, following the collapse of the Tubo Kingdom, the ruling class disintegrated and huge swaths of feudal estates known as "xika" emerged. Large numbers of serfs were bound to the land on the manors, economically exploited and deprived of personal freedoms. By the 13th century, feudal serfdom had become prevalent. By the 14th century, under the Phagmodrupa regime, large-scale land grants of xika were distributed to subordinates, thereby institutionalizing the system for the next 700 years during which over one million serfs lived under harsh and inhumane exploitation.

Things started to turn around in 1951 when the Central Government of the People's Republic of China and the local authorities of the region signed the "Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Xizang," known as the "17-Article Agreement," following the peaceful liberation of Xizang. Well aware of the importance to social transformation in Xizang, the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) began studying the region's social system. Starting in 1951, investigations into the region's societal structure were launched, and from 1956, the National People's Congress initiated a nationwide historical and social survey in border areas and minority ethnic regions, focusing on the operation of manorial estates in Xizang.

Notably, before democratic reforms in 1959, Xizang society remained deeply hierarchical. At the top were the three major estate-holders: government officials, aristocrats and high-ranking monks in monasteries. Prior to 1959, 99.7 percent of the arable land in Xizang was owned by these three groups. While holding sway over almost all the farmland, pastures and livestock in the region, the serf-owning class unabashedly imposed countless exploitative taxes and levies on the people, which entailed not only land rent, taxes and forced labor, but also over 200 different kinds of miscellaneous taxes. To maintain the feudal serfdom system, the ruling class enforced their rule through a brutal and inhumane legal code. The "Thirteen Code" institutionalized inequality. Horrific punishments such as tongue-cutting, nose-slitting, skinning and tendon removal were commonplace. The lives of serfs were regarded as worthless.

The democratic reform in 1959 brought an end to such inhumanity that had lasted for over seven centuries by granting dignity and rights to the people of Xizang and involving them in China's modern development. Since then, the living conditions and social structure in feudal Xizang have undergone a sea change, with modes of production fundamentally transformed and religious freedom effectively protected, paving the way for a harmonious socialist society in Xizang.

The significance of the reform is arguably comparable with, or even surpasses, that of the abolishment of slavery in the United States, the abolitionist movement in Europe or the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. The emancipation of over one million serfs was a sensible and historic choice made by the CPC to advance human civilization.

Looking back over the past century, there exists a profound historical logic and global relevance between the founding mission of the CPC and the democratic reforms in Xizang. This connection reflects the CPC's unwavering commitment to representing the fundamental interests of the people. From the abolition of serfdom in 1959 to high-quality development in Xizang today, the transformation has been nothing short of remarkable.

The CPC's strategy for governing Xizang has provided the local people with an unprecedented level of human rights protection. In pursuit of common prosperity, the CPC abolished the serfdom system and implemented land reforms, not only granting serfs both personal freedom and land rights, but also paving the way for the region's modernization.

From 1959 to 2024, Xizang's GDP grew from 174 million yuan ($23.94 million) to 276.494 billion yuan, an increase of more than 1,500-fold. This is an unparalleled achievement among all former serfdom-based societies in the world. 

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November 2012, Xizang, together with the rest of the country, has embarked on a new journey toward building China into a modern socialist nation in all respects, and has made tremendous progress in deepening institutional reforms across economic, government, cultural and public welfare spheres.

Supported by anti-China forces in the West, the 14th Dalai Lama, his followers and some "Western scholars" have turned a blind eye to reality and continue to glorify the feudal serfdom system in Xizang by portraying it as a golden age of "Shangri-La." But do such claims hold water? Unfortunately, by purposefully misconstruing the reality, their false claims will only be self-defeating in the face of historical evidence.

The emancipation of the one million serfs holds immense historical significance. Xizang's transformation has shattered the dominance of colonial narratives and discourse power imposed by the West, and the region's development offers valuable and practical experience for the fight against oppression. On January 19, 2009, the Second Session of the Ninth People's Congress of the Xizang Autonomous Region officially designated March 28 as Serfs' Emancipation Day, a decision well received by the Chinese people.

The abolition of serfdom in Xizang is not only a glorious chapter in China's human rights cause, but also a landmark in the progress of human civilization. On March 28, 2025, as the Chinese people celebrate the 17th Serfs' Emancipation Day, such a day of commemoration also serves as a perfect timing for us to review the great transformation Xizang has gone through.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X, formerly Twitter, to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)