The Kashag (cabinet) of old Tibet prescribed that all serfs must stay on the land within the manors of their owners. They were not allowed to leave without permission; fleeing the manor was forbidden. "All serfs have owners and all plots of land are assigned." Serfs were possessed by the three major estate-holders (local government officials, nobles and upper-ranking lamas in monasteries). They remained serfs from generation to generation, and confined to the land of their owners. All serfs and their livestock able to labor had to till the plots of land assigned to them and provide corvee labor. Once serfs lost their ability to labor, they were deprived of livestock, farm tools and land, and their status was degraded to that of slave. Since serfs were their private property, the three major estate-holders could use them as gambling stakes, mortgages for debt, present them as gifts, or transfer and trade them. All serfs needed permission from their owners to marry, and male and female serfs belonging to different owners had to pay "redemption fees" before such permission was granted. After marriage, serfs were also taxed on their newborn children, which were registered the moment they were born, so sealing their fate as lifelong serfs. Serfs that needed to make a living in other places were required to pay "servitudetax," and had to produce proof of having paid such tax or they would otherwise be punished as fugitives.
1940年前往主持十四世达赖喇嘛坐床的国民政府蒙藏委员会委员长吴忠信在《奉使办理藏事报告书》中,对旧西藏统治者对人民的压迫以及人民的悲惨痛苦处境有这样的描述:“西藏因地处高寒,农产稀少,人民生活本极困难,而西藏当局压迫剥削更无所不用其极,使藏民生活堕入人间地狱,其苦乃不可言。西藏当局视人民直如奴隶牛马,照例不付代价,即伙食马料亦须由人民自备,而差徭纷繁几无宁日,人民受扰之剧可以想见。政府复可一纸命令无代价的征收人民之财产,或将此种财产赏给寺庙或贵族中之有功者。总之,在西藏境内,人民已失去其生存与自由之保障,其生活之痛苦实非言语所可形容也。
【《民族区域自治制度在西藏的成功实践》白皮书】相关文章:
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