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My Personal Experience of Suppressing the Rebellion

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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By LI ZUOMIN

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The 17-article agreement signed between Kashag (the Tibet local government administration before 1959) and the central government in 1951 marked the peaceful liberation of Tibet. According to the agreement, the People's liberation Army entered Tibet and took over national defense affairs there. It was in that year that I arrived in Tibet and stared my 28-year career in the autonomous region. I was 20.

I started to learn Tibetan and mastered the language very quickly. When the Dalai Lama and the local upper circles had talks with the representative of the central government I was usually assigned to serve as an interpreter. As time passed I became familiar with those from the upper circles and got along with them quite well. In 1956, when the Dalai Lama was making his visit to India, the central government representative suggested that he have a Han-Tibetan interpreter go with him so that he could talk with Premier Zhou Enlai who happened to be there on an official visit. I was chosen to go.

In fact, if some of the local nobles hadn't launched an armed rebellion, the democratic reform in Tibet wouldn't have been initiated as early as 1959. According to the agreement, the central government wouldn't have pressed the issue of Tibetan affairs relating to reform. The local government carried out the reform on a voluntary basis. When the local people demanded reform they sought a proper solution through negotiations with the regional leaders. That is to say, the Dalai Lama and those from the local upper circles took the initiative in this respect. So far as I know, the central government didn't interfere in Tibetan local affairs before the armed rebellion, with the exception of military and diplomatic matters. The assignment and removal of local officials and the formulation of local regulations were under the control of the upper circles headed by the Dalai Lama. Then why should they launch the rebellion? I used to think about this point. After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, democratic reform had become an irresistible trend although the Dalai Lama and the local nobles still remained in power. The feudal serf system characterized by the integration of religion with the government was still in power in Tibet at the time. The serfs, deprived of their personal freedom, were traded, abused and slaughtered like animals by their lords. All kinds of social evils were in existence. Feudal lords, nobles and upper-class lamas tried desperately to maintain such a social system so that they would not lose their vested interests. They knew clearly that the only way to achieve the goal was to make Tibet independent so that they could implement the feudal serf system forever.

There had been signs of rebellion since 1956. There were ruffians attacking PLA soldiers and destroying roads. The central government repeatedly instructed the Tibetan local government to put down the riots. But in fact, some high-ranking officials of the local government themselves were the plotters and supporters of the riots.

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In the second half of 1958, the rebels established their own armed forces. The Qinghai-Tibet and Xikang-Tibet highways creating a link with the interior area had been actually blocked by the rebels. And there were frequent attacks to PLA garrison troops. Many PLA soldiers were killed by the rebels.

On March 10, 1959, rumors were spread in Lhasa that the PLA would arrest the Dalai Lana and other high-ranking local officials and transport them away by helicopter. Crowds of people who were unaware of the truth were incited to assemble at Norbu Lingka where the Dalai Lama was living. The rebels took the chance to launch the independence move in Lhasa. they decided to show their hands at last. What they didn't expect was that they would lift a rock only to drop it on their own. Toes.

The splittists saw their plot fall through, and got an even bigger surprise when their rebellion brought about speedier democratic reform in the region. Since I myself participated in the reform the whole process remains clear in my mind.

In January 1959, or more specifically, on the 29th day of the 12th month according to the Tibetan calendar, the Dalai Lama and the local government invited leaders of the stationed troops and resident central administrative organs to attend the grand local religious ceremony held at the Potala Palace. During informal talks, the Dalai Lama expressed the hope that he would like to watch the performance by the PLA art troupe. When the garrison commander told him he could send the troupe to perform in Norbu Lingka, the Dalai Lama used the excuse that there was no proper stage in Norbu Lingka and said he would rather go to the club of the military area command for the performance. The garrison commander agreed, asking the Dalai Lama to fix a time and said that they would invite the Kalons (the Dalai Lama's ministers or chief advisers in the Tibet local government) to the performance as well. The Dalai nodded his agreement.

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Days later, I and a few other went to the Dalai Lamag to fix a time with him for the performance. The Dalai said he had looked over the almanac and had chosen an auspicious day-the first day of the second month according to the Tibetan calendar, i. e. March 10. That year the Dalai Lama was approved a first-grade Gexii (the highest theological degree in Tibetan Buddhism, something like a Doctor of Divinity degree in the West). The central government representative offered his congratulations in the invitation. On March 6 or 7, I accompanied the chief of staff of the area command to inform the Dalai Lama of the preparations for the performance and explained that the central government would take the chance to congratulate him on his success of becoming the first-grade Gexii. The Dalai was happy with the words. Later we met leaders of the Dalai's guards regiment to arrange security affairs on the day.

On the night of March 9, PLA soldiers swept mines along the section of road they were responsible for. Guards were stationed every d10 meters along the road so as to ensure the Dalai's safety on his way to the area command from Norbu Lingka.

As soon as I got out of bed the next morning I found large crowds of were hurrying in the direction of Norbu Lingka, some crying, some shouting. It was a scene of great confusion. We felt greatly puzzled until the area command leaders asked me to call the Dalai Lama's secretery. It was then that we were told that there widely spread rumors saying that the PLA would take the opportunity of this artistic performance to arrest the Dalai Lama and other local government officials. Many local citizens were incited to rush to Norbu Lingka to protect the Dalai Lama.

Soon there came the news that quite a few patriotic Tibetan nobles had been killed. The rebels organized a parade, shouting the slogan of Tibetan independence. In the afternoon, a conference for Tibetan independence. In the afternoon, a conference for Tibetan independence was held at the Potala Palace when the rebels forced government officials to agree to make the declaration.

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In the few days that followed, the resident central organs and military forces stayed on high alert and kept a close watch on the situation. The troops strictly obeyed the order not to attack first. My task was to win over the upper-class Tibetans by persuading them to set themselves apart from the rebellion. Offices and dormitories spared for these people to live in were soon fully occupied.

At midnight on March 18, the Dalai Lama and some rebels left Lhasa and went abroad. The second morning shots rang out suddenly. The rebels launched their formal attack on the garrison troops and resident central organs, hoping they could rely on their size advantage to win in one fell swoop (The rebels had armed forces of more than 7,000 people while the PLA had just a little more than 1,000). But the PLA had a much higher fighting capacity and began a counter-attack on the morning of March 19. By the 20th the entire city of Lhasa was brought under control.

The nobles and officials participating in the rebellion never expected such a result. They had to flee abroad. To stabilize social order, the State Council issued the order on March 28 to disband the former Tibetan local government, instructing the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of Tibet Autonomous Region to take over its functions. While efforts were made to crack down on the remaining rebel forces in other places, the democratic reform was initiated ahead of schedule.

The major aim of the reform was to demolish the old feudal serf system and distribute land to the people. Feudal lords and monasteries taking part in the rebellion had their land confiscated, while for those who weren't involved in the rebellion, the government implemented the policy of redemption, redeeming their land by means of an installment plan.

Working teams were sent to the countryside to guide reform there and motivate former serfs to denounce the crimes of the old social system. What I saw and heard there made me feel that their tolerance had reached its limit. It was the democratic reform that finally enabled them to give vent to their feelings. As a result the working teams often had to control the extreme behavior of the old-day serfs.

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Many crimes that had made people boil with anger were exposed. A lower-class lama had his hands cut off because he had expressed his disaffection when he was ordered by a noble woman to pick up an ear-ring she had dropped on the ground.

I attended an assembly at Zhebung Monastery in the suburbs of Lhasa. more than 3,000 people who used to be serfs and lower-class lamas owned by the monastery got together to denounce the crimes of a former monastery chief. The crowds burned with rage, some shouting, some stamping their feet and some beating their feet and some beating their feet and some beating their breasts and crying in anguish. A young man shouldered his way to the front and interrogated the chief that was there as to why he had beat his father to death. Suddenly he took out a stone stick from his sleeve and hit the chief on the head. The chief immediately fell on the ground, blood welling out of the wound. Later the young man explained that the stone stick was the very thing the chief used to beat his father to death. Before dying his father told him to keep the stick and seek revenge for him.

Similar scenes were common during that time. Thanks to the democratic reform, the former slaves and serfs, treated as "talking animals," regained their rights as humans and became masters of a new Tibet. Many, like the above-mentioned young man, saw justice prevail at last.

During the whole process of the democratic reform the central government adhered to the original peaceful reform policy. Every measure was taken after repeated negotiations with the nobles and local high-ranking officials who stayed in Tibet. By 1962 all the remaining rebel forces had been destroyed and the democratic reform had come to the end. I worked another ten or so years in Tibet and witnessed great changes taking place there. In recent years Tibet has seen even more drastic changes, even I, as a "semi-Tibetan", feel astonished. But I always believe that the democratic reform constitutes a very important page in Tibetan history. As a person who has personally participated in the scene I hope this period of history will become better known to more people.

Source

zt.tibet.cn