伟大的跨越：西藏民主改革60年
Democratic Reform in Tibet – Sixty Years On
中华人民共和国国务院新闻办公室
The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China
2019年3月
March 2019
目录
Contents
前言
Preamble
一、黑暗的封建农奴制度
I. Feudal Serfdom: A Dark History
二、不可阻挡的历史潮流
II. Irresistible Historical Trend
三、彻底废除封建农奴制
III. Abolishing Feudal Serfdom
四、实现了人民当家作主
IV. The People Have Become Masters of Their Own Affairs
五、解放和发展了生产力
V. Liberating and Developing the Productive Forces
六、推进了各项事业发展
VI. Promoting a Range of Undertakings
七、加强了生态文明建设
VII. Enhancing Ecological Progress
八、保障了宗教信仰自由
VIII. Protecting the Freedom of Religious Belief
九、促进了民族平等团结
IX. Strengthening Ethnic Equality and Unity
十、西藏发展进入新时代
X. Development of Tibet in the New Era
结束语
Conclusion
前言
Preamble
2019年是西藏民主改革60周年。按中国传统文化习俗，六十年一甲子，是值得纪念的日子。
The year 2019 marks the 60th anniversary of the campaign of democratic reform in Tibet. In traditional Chinese culture, the 60th year is always memorable as it completes a cycle called the Jiazi, a concept unique to the Chinese calendar.
六十年前的民主改革，对西藏地方和西藏各族人民而言，是一次新生，意义非同寻常。
Tibet’s democratic reform that took place six decades ago gave a new life to Tibet and the ethnic peoples living there.
六十年换了人间。民主改革是西藏历史上最伟大最深刻的社会变革。西藏从此废除了黑暗的封建农奴制，建立起全新的社会制度，人民实现了翻身解放，成为国家和社会的主人，各项权利得到充分保障。
These 60 years have changed Tibet completely. Tibet’s democratic reform is the greatest and most profound social transformation in the history of Tibet. By abolishing serfdom, a grim and backward feudal system, Tibet was able to establish a new social system that liberated the people and made them the masters of the nation and society, thus ensuring their rights in all matters.
六十年创造美好。民主改革为西藏开辟了光明的发展前景。在中央政府和全国人民的大力支持下，西藏各族人民勇于进取，顽强拼搏，建设美好家园，把贫穷落后的旧西藏建设成了经济繁荣发展、社会全面进步、生态环境良好、人民生活幸福的新西藏。
These 60 years have turned Tibet into a beautiful home to the people of Tibet. Tibet’s democratic reform opened up bright prospects. With the strong support of the central government and the rest of the country, the ethnic peoples of Tibet have spared no effort in forging ahead and transforming their poor and backward old land into a beautiful new home that is economically prosperous and socially advanced, with a sound ecological environment where people live in happiness and contentment.
六十年团结奋进。经过民主改革，西藏各族人民与全国人民一道，同心同德、和衷共济，建立起平等、团结、互助、和谐的民族关系。在维护国家统一、反对分裂的斗争中，西藏各族人民紧密团结在党中央周围，经受住了各种困难和风险的考验，铸牢了中华民族共同体意识。
These 60 years have seen solidarity and enterprising spirit of the people in Tibet. Thanks to democratic reform, the ethnic peoples of Tibet and the rest of the country have worked together with one heart to develop ethnic relationships characterized by equality, unity, mutual support and harmony. In the fight to guard national unity and oppose separatism, the people of Tibet have closely followed the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the face of all forms of hardship, challenge, and test, reinforcing the communal strength of the Chinese nation.
六十年伟大跨越。在中国共产党的坚强领导下，西藏社会实现了由封建农奴制度向社会主义制度的历史性飞跃，西藏发展实现了由贫穷落后向文明进步的伟大跨越。随着中国特色社会主义进入新时代，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，西藏各族人民正与全国人民一道，为实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦阔步前进。
These 60 years have seen a great leap of social progress. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, Tibet has been able to transform from a society under feudal serfdom to socialism, from poverty and backwardness to civility and progress. As Chinese socialism has entered a new era, the ethnic peoples of Tibet, led by the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core, are working together with the people of the rest of the country to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.
一、黑暗的封建农奴制度
I. Feudal Serfdom: A Dark History
历史上，西藏长期实行政教合一的封建农奴制。这一制度一直延续到1959年西藏民主改革前，上百万农奴处于被剥削被压迫的境地。
For centuries Tibet was ruled by feudal serfdom under theocracy. Millions of serfs were subjected to cruel exploitation and oppression until democratic reform in 1959.
——三大领主剥夺了农奴的一切权利
– Serfs deprived of all rights by the three major estate-holders
旧西藏法律将人分为三等九级，明确规定人在法律上的不平等地位，农奴的人权被领主阶级所剥夺。地方政府完全被官家、贵族和寺庙上层僧侣（又称“三大领主”）所掌控，各级官员由上层僧侣和世俗贵族担任。有的大贵族官员的子弟一出生就获得四品官阶，十七八岁就可出任政府重要职务。中小贵族的子弟经俗官学校学习后，即可进入地方政府任职。僧官大部分由贵族出身的喇嘛担任。广大农奴处于社会最底层，毫无地位可言。
The laws of old Tibet divided people into three classes and nine ranks, legalizing the unequal status of different groups and allowing the estate-holders to deny all human rights of their serfs. In the government, controlled by the three major estate-holders (government officials, nobles, and upper-ranking lamas in monasteries), all levels of official came from the families of high-ranking lamas and nobles. Children of major noble families, upon birth, would automatically obtain the fourth-highest official rank, and they could take key positions in government when they were 17 or 18 years of age. Children from middle-ranking and lesser noble families could also take up official positions in government after spending some time studying at official training schools. Most monk officials were lamas from noble families, while serfs, who constituted the vast majority of the Tibetan society, struggled hopelessly on the very bottom rung of society.
——三大领主共同掌握对农奴生杀予夺大权
– The serfs’ life and death in the hands of the three major estate-holders
三大领主以野蛮、残酷的刑法维护封建农奴制度，他们可以在自己的势力范围内设置司法机构和法庭，除官府所设监狱外，每一个较大寺庙和贵族都设有监狱或私牢，可以自备刑具，私设公堂，惩罚农奴，进行判决、鞭挞、拷问，给农奴戴上镣铐、枷锁。大量藏文档案清晰记载着，割舌、割鼻、戴石帽、剁手足、剜眼、抽筋、剥皮、投水，甚至投入蝎子洞等几十种酷刑。拉萨大昭寺北面的“朗孜厦”，曾经是旧西藏拉萨的司法机构，被称为“人间地狱”，常借实施酷刑和屠杀之机，为噶厦地方政府和寺庙中的上层人士提供“念心咒”用的祭品，如人头、人皮、人肉、人心、人肠等。
The three major estate-holders applied every means to maintain feudal serfdom, with cruel and barbarous laws and punishments imposed by judicial organs and courts set up within their scopes of influence. Apart from jails set up by the government, there were penitentiaries and private jails run by large monasteries and aristocrats where instruments of torture were kept and private tribunals were held. They cast verdicts, flogged and tortured serfs, had them chained and shackled. Volumes of documents written in Tibetan testify to the savage punishments meted out to serfs, such as cutting off the tongue, nose, hands and feet, wearing stone hat, gouging out the eyes, pulling out tendons, skinning, drowning, and even feeding them to scorpions. The Snang Rtse Shag, located to the north of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, used to be the judiciary of old Tibet. Infamously known as a “living hell”, this was where serfs were tortured and slaughtered at will to supply the upper class of the Kashag (cabinet) regime and high-ranking monks with such horrible offerings as human head, skin, flesh, heart, and intestines, which were considered “necessary” when chanting certain scriptures.
——三大领主集中占有以土地、牧场为主的生产资料
– Land, pastures and other means of production monopolized by the three major estate-holders
据1959年民主改革前统计，在西藏约330万克（西藏民主改革前计量单位，1克约合1亩）土地中，官家占有128.37万克，寺院和上层僧侣占有121.44万克，贵族占有79.2万克，占有比例高达99.7%。边远地区有极少数的自耕农，占有约0.3%的耕地，大部分牧场也被牧主所控制。当时广大农奴流传着这样的歌谣：“即使雪山变成酥油，也是被领主占有；就是河水变成牛奶，我们也喝不上一口。”
According to statistics gathered prior to democratic reform, a staggering 99.7 percent of all the 220,000 ha of cultivated land in Tibet was owned by the government (85,580 ha), the monasteries and high-ranking monks (80,960 ha), and aristocrats (52,800 ha), while the remaining 0.3 percent of cultivated land was owned by a handful of land-tilling peasants in remote areas. Most pastures were controlled by herd owners. A ballad among serfs of the time goes: Even if the snow mountain melts into butter, it is the property of the masters. Even if the river water turns into milk, there is not a single drop for us.
——三大领主对农奴的人身控制和奴役极其残暴
– Serfs owned and enslaved by the three major estate-holders
在领主土地占有制基础上建立起来的人身依附关系，受到政教合一的封建农奴制度的强力保护。噶厦地方政府规定，农奴只能固定在所属领主的庄园内，不得擅自离开，绝对禁止逃亡。噶厦地方政府和达赖喇嘛还多次发布不准收留逃亡农奴的文告。三大领主依靠对土地的绝对占有，掌握着农奴的生死婚嫁。领主还把农奴当作私有财产，随意用于赌博、买卖、转让、赠送、抵债和交换。农奴如果逃亡，就会被处以断足、鞭笞等惩罚。三大领主不仅对广大农奴进行人身控制，还通过乌拉差役对其进行残酷奴役，以和平解放前摄政达扎的达隆绛庄园为例：庄园共有土地1445克，所属农奴全劳动力和半劳动力计81人，全年共支内差11826天，外差9440天，内外差共计21266天，每个劳动力平均要支应262.5天的乌拉差役，约占全部劳动量的72%。
The bondage of serfs to the land owners was protected by the powerful theocratic rule. The Kashag regime prescribed that all serfs must stay on the land within the manor of their owners. They were not allowed to step out of the manor without permission; fleeing the manor was forbidden. Any serf who attempted to flee might receive a lashing as punishment or have their feet chopped off. The Kashag and the Dalai Lama also issued decrees prohibiting the furnishing of refuge to fleeing serfs. With their absolute control of land, the three major estate-holders held the power of life, death and marriage over their serfs. Since serfs were their private property, they could trade and transfer them, present them as gifts, use them as gambling stakes or as mortgages for debt, or exchange them at will. The three major estate-holders also imposed heavy corvée labor on serfs. For example, before liberation of Tibet in 1951, the Darongqang Manor owned by Gyaltsap Tajtra held a total of 96 ha of land, and 81 able-bodied and semi-able-bodied serfs. They were assigned a total of 21,266 corvée days per year, including 11,826 days working for their owners and 9,440 days for the government. The average corvée labor of each serf amounted to 262.5 days a year, or 72 percent of their entire year of labor.
——三大领主对农奴进行野蛮的苛捐杂税盘剥
– Serfs exploited by exorbitant taxes and levies
在旧西藏，三大领主占有绝大部分生产资料，对广大农奴采取非人的压榨和剥削。仅噶厦地方政府征收的差税就达200多种。农奴为了活命，不得不频繁举债，欠债的农奴占农奴总数的90%以上。农奴所负的债务有新债、子孙债、连保债、集体摊派债等等，其中三分之一以上是祖祖辈辈欠下、永远还不清的子孙债。当时流传一首民谣：“爷爷的爷爷欠下的债，爸爸的爸爸没有还清，到了儿子的儿子那辈，连利息的利息也还不完。”根据1959年至1960年民主改革的统计，西藏共废除高利贷1690万克粮（西藏民主改革前计量单位，1克约合14公斤），1400多万品藏银（西藏民主改革前计量单位，1品约合50两藏银）。如果与1958年西藏全年的粮食总产量1250万克相比，民主改革所废除的高利贷已经超过了一年粮食的总产量。
In old Tibet, the three major estate-holders possessed almost all means of production. They burdened their serfs with inhumane taxes and levies. The Kashag regime alone imposed some 200 different taxes. Serfs had to borrow money to survive, and more than 90 percent of serfs were in debt. Serfs were burdened with all kinds of debts such as debts passed down from previous generations, new debts, debts resulting from joint liability, and debts apportioned among all the serfs. The debts that were passed down from previous generations and could never be repaid even by succeeding generations accounted for one third of the total debts. There was a widespread ballad that described the debts that bound serfs:
The debts owed by the grandpa of my grandpa
Could not be paid off by the father of my father,
And the son of my son
Will not be able to repay even the interest.
According to statistics collated in 1959-60, during Tibet’s democratic reform usurious loans of 236,600 tons of grain and 700 million liang of Tibetan silver were written off. The loans written off during democratic reform surpassed the entire 175,000-ton grain output of the whole of Tibet in 1958.
——三大领主利用宗教对社会进行严密的精神控制
– Strict mind control in the name of religion
三大领主宣扬“极乐世界”和“来世幸福”控制农奴的精神思想，使其安于被奴役的命运。1913年进藏的日本人多田等观在《入藏纪行》中写道：“西藏人的想法完全是宗教性的，他们认为自己罪孽深重，认为达赖喇嘛为了挽救他们才课以重税。他们还认为今世如能减轻罪恶，来世就能幸福。”著名藏学家王森、王辅仁在《废除西藏喇嘛寺庙的封建特权和封建剥削》一文中揭露：“从1958年到1959年春，仅在拉萨西郊一个佛堂里，为了念经放咒，就先后向一个管事头人索要过整人头27个，人头盖骨6个，人腿骨4根，整张人皮1张，人尸1具，人肠14捆，人肉8块，人血9瓶。”对于旧西藏的这种社会状态，1940年前来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有深入的观察，他在《奉使办理藏事报告书》中写道：“各级各等之人员，对于本身所属阶级视为前生命定，行之若素，即极下贱者，亦甘之若饴。”三大领主垄断了精神文化生活，凡与其利益或观念相违背的思想文化，均被视为异端邪说。近代著名藏族学者根敦群培揭露僧人的腐败与堕落，提倡藏传佛教改革，为噶厦地方政府所不容，遭到囚禁和迫害。
The three major estate-holders exercised mind control over serfs so that they accepted their fate in the hope of entering the “Elysium” after they died and obtaining “happiness in the next life”. In Tibetan Travel Notes (Chibetto Taizaiki), a Japanese monk named Tokan Tada, who entered Tibet in 1913, wrote: “The Tibetans are very religious. They are convinced of their sins, and believe that the Dalai Lama’s heavy taxes are a means of redemption. They also believe in happiness in the next life if their sins are cleansed in this life.” In “Abolishing the Feudal Privileges and Exploitation in Tibetan Lamaist Monasteries”, well-known Tibetologists Wang Sen and Wang Furen wrote: “From 1958 to the spring of 1959, one chapel in the western suburbs of Lhasa, for the purpose of prayer, asked for 27 human heads, six skulls, four leg bones, one full human skin, one corpse, 14 bundles of intestines, eight chunks of human flesh, and nine bottles of human blood.” After presiding over the enthronement ceremony of the 14th Dalai Lama in 1940, Wu Zhongxin, chief of the Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs of the National Government, described the situation in old Tibet in his “Report on Tibetan Affairs on a Mission”: “People of all classes and ranks believe they are destined to belong to a certain class or rank from the previous life, and they are accustomed to it. Even those in the lowest rank are content with the status quo.” Monopolizing the spiritual and cultural life of the Tibetan people, the three major estate-holders attacked as heresy any idea or culture that ran contrary to their interests. The Tibetan scholar Gedun Chophel, who exposed the corruption and degeneracy of monks and advocated reform in Tibetan Buddhism, was imprisoned and persecuted by the Kashag government.
二、不可阻挡的历史潮流
II. Irresistible Historical Trend
农奴制是封建社会最残酷的奴役形式，无论从经济的发展、政治的民主，还是从人权的保障角度来审视，农奴制都是野蛮落后的社会制度。时至20世纪50年代，封建农奴制度的存在完全背离人类历史发展潮流。这样一种制度是文明的耻辱，注定要被历史抛弃。
Serfdom is the most brutal form of slavery in feudal society. It is a barbaric and backward social system in terms of economic development, political democracy or human rights protection. By the 1950s, the very existence of feudal serfdom had violated the development trend of human history. Such a system was a stain on civilization and was destined to be eradicated by history.
在人类社会发展史上，具有人身依附关系的奴隶制、农奴制在世界上大多数地方都存在过。近代以后，随着新思想和启蒙运动的出现，奴隶制、农奴制已被认为是落后过时的制度，废奴或废奴运动开始在一些国家出现，敲响了奴隶制、农奴制灭亡的丧钟。随着欧美资产阶级革命的兴起，法国、英国、俄国、美国等陆续废除奴隶制、农奴制。法国大革命后，法国于1794年宣布废除奴隶制。1807年、1833年，英国先后通过《废除奴隶贸易法案》和《废除奴隶制法案》。1861年，俄国以自上而下的和平改革废除了农奴制。1865年，美国联邦政府凭借南北战争的胜利，以宪法修正案的形式废除了奴隶制和强制劳役。
Throughout human history, slavery and serfdom have existed in most parts of the world. The two systems were renounced as backward and outdated as new ideas and enlightenment emerged in modern times, and abolitionism or abolitionist movements began to appear in many countries, ringing the death knell of slavery and serfdom. With the rise of the bourgeois revolution in Europe and the United States, the two were successively abolished in France, Britain, Russia, and the United States. In 1794, during the French Revolution, France put an end to slavery. Britain enacted the Slave Trade Act in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. In 1861, Russia abolished serfdom with a top-down peaceful reform. In 1865, by virtue of victory in the Civil War, the US federal government abolished slavery and forced labor by means of a constitutional amendment.
第二次世界大战后，刚刚从大战硝烟中走出的世界，正迎来一个新的发展时代，和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由成为人类社会的崇高追求。1948年，联合国通过的《世界人权宣言》明确指出：“任何人不得使为奴隶或奴役；一切形式的奴隶制度和奴隶买卖，均应予以禁止。”1956年，联合国专门通过了《废止奴隶制、奴隶贩卖及类似奴隶制的制度与习俗补充公约》，要求各缔约国采取一切实际而必要的立法及其他措施，逐渐地和迅速地加以完全废除。
The end of the Second World War ushered in a new era of development, when peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom became the goals of human society. In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations clearly stated: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” In 1956, the United Nations adopted the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Article 1 of the Convention states that “Each of the States Parties to this Convention shall take all practicable and necessary legislative and other measures to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the complete abolition or abandonment of the following institutions and practices...”
1949年10月1日，中华人民共和国成立，开启了中国历史的崭新时代。在中国共产党的领导下，新生的人民共和国建立起全新的社会主义制度，人民当家作主。1951年5月23日，中央人民政府与西藏地方政府签订《关于和平解放西藏办法的协议》（以下简称《十七条协议》），正式宣告西藏和平解放。新中国成立伊始，鉴于中国社会发展的不平衡性、特别是一些地方的特殊情况，1954年，时任全国人大常委会委员长的刘少奇在一届全国人大一次会议上说：“现在还没有完成民主改革的少数民族地区，今后也可以用某种和缓的方式完成民主改革，然后逐步过渡到社会主义。”1953年新疆彻底废除了残余的封建农奴制（伯克制）。1956年开始，甘肃、四川、青海等省藏区也陆续进行民主改革。在云南，通过和平协商的办法于1956年废除了傈僳族、景颇族、佤族的家长奴隶制和永宁摩梭人的奴隶制，1958年又废除了宁蒗小凉山彝族奴隶制和迪庆藏族地区的封建农奴制。1956年初至1957年底，四川省凉山彝族聚居区开展民主改革，彻底废除了奴隶制度。废除农奴制已成为20世纪50年代新中国社会发展的大趋势。然而，此时的西藏依然延续着政教合一的封建农奴制，社会发展和文明进步受到严重阻碍。
On October 1, 1949 the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded, opening a new era in Chinese history. Under the leadership of the CPC, a new socialist system was established, making the people the masters of the country. On May 23, 1951, the Agreement of the Central People’s Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (hereinafter the “17-Article Agreement”) was signed, officially proclaiming the peaceful liberation of Tibet. In view of unbalanced social development and special circumstances in some places, Liu Shaoqi, then chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), said at the First Session of the First NPC in 1954: “Ethnic minority areas that have not completed democratic reform can complete it in some gentle manner in the future and then gradually move forward to socialism.” In 1953, Xinjiang completely abolished all remaining feudal serfdom. Beginning in 1956, democratic reform was also carried out in Tibetan areas of Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces. In Yunnan Province, parental slavery among the Lisu, Jingpo, and Va ethnic groups and the slavery of the Mosuo people in Yongning were abolished in 1956 through peaceful negotiation; slavery among the Xiaoliangshan Yi people in Ninglang and feudal slavery in Deqen Tibetan area were abolished in 1958. From early 1956 to late 1957, democratic reform was carried out in the Liangshan Yi ethnic area in Sichuan Province which completely abolished slavery. The abolition of serfdom was a major trend of social progress in China in the 1950s. However, Tibet at that time was still ruled by feudal serfdom under theocracy, which seriously obstructed social development and the process of civilization.
——政教合一的封建农奴制使西藏生产长期处于停滞状态
– Agricultural production was stagnated by theocratic feudal serfdom in Tibet for a long time.
直到20世纪50年代，西藏的农业仍停滞在粗放耕作甚至“刀耕火种”的原始生产方式，普遍使用木制农具，平均产量仅有种子的四五倍，与几百年前无多大区别。绝大部分吃、穿、用品都要靠个体或庄园的手工生产，毫无社会生机和活力。
Before the 1950s, agriculture in Tibet remained bound to extensive farming methods or even primitive slash-and-burn farming. Wooden tools were widely used, and the average yield was only four or five times that of seeds sown – not much different from hundreds of years ago. Most of the food, clothing, and supplies were made by hand by individuals or manors. There was no vitality in society.
——政教合一的封建农奴制生产关系已经与劳动主体形成尖锐矛盾和对立
– Feudal serfdom under theocracy caused sharp conflicts and opposition between serf owners and their labor.
农奴主通过剥削农奴攫取的社会财富，除供养僧俗官员和蓄养奴仆外，其余的全部用于骄奢淫逸的生活耗费。农奴辛勤劳作的成果被农奴主残酷剥夺，深陷饥寒交迫的悲苦境地，失去了生活能力，不得不反抗和逃亡。
By exploiting serfs, serf owners hoarded social wealth and spent it on extravagant and dissipated lives, in addition to supplying ecclesiastical and secular officials and their servants. Serfs, who were brutally deprived of the fruits of their hard work by serf owners, lived a miserable life. As they could barely survive, they had no choice but to rebel or flee.
——政教合一的封建农奴制严重阻碍了现代科技文化的传播发展
– Feudal serfdom under theocracy seriously impeded the spread and development of modern science, technology and culture.
由三大领主把控的西藏地方政权，为了巩固自己的统治，宣扬神权迷信，反对科学，严重阻碍了现代科学技术的传播和运用。尽管统治集团也曾派贵族子弟到国外学习现代科学技术，但主要是为了满足统治者自身享用，并不是为了学习先进，倡导科学。
To consolidate its rule, the government of Tibet controlled by three major estate-holders practiced theocracy, promoted superstition, and opposed science by every possible means, which seriously hindered the spread and application of modern science and technology. Although the ruling clique sent youth from aristocratic families to study modern science and technology abroad, the purpose was mainly for the rulers’ own satisfaction, rather than to learn and apply advanced science and technology.
和平解放后，在中央政府的努力下，西藏结束了内部长期混乱和纷争，初步打破了西藏社会长期封闭停滞的局面，西藏经济社会发展出现新气象，发生新变化。按照《十七条协议》，1951年10月解放军入藏，1952年成立西藏军区，担负起保卫国家边疆的任务。中央通过设立西藏工作委员会在拉萨及各地建立分支机构并开展工作。1959年民主改革前，西藏同时存在着噶厦地方政府、班禅堪布会议厅和昌都地区人民解放委员会、西藏自治区筹备委员会等不同性质的政权组织。按照《十七条协议》规定：“对于西藏的现行政治制度，中央不予变更”；“有关西藏的各项改革事宜，中央不加强迫。西藏地方政府应自动进行改革，人民提出改革要求时，得采取与西藏领导人员协商的方法解决之”。中央人民政府坚持“慎重稳进”方针和极为宽容的政策，积极争取和团结爱国上层人士，耐心等待西藏地方上层统治集团自我改革。同时，针对西藏长期受到神权统治影响，中国共产党领导的各级组织和工作人员开展了耐心细致的群众工作，认真贯彻执行了“六年不改”的工作方针，赢得了爱国上层人士、广大人民群众的拥护和支持。
Thanks to the efforts of the central government, the peaceful liberation in 1951 ended Tibet’s long-lasting chaos, conflict, occlusion and stagnation. It experienced new economic and social development. Based on the 17-Article Agreement, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) entered Tibet in October 1951, and the Tibet Military Region was established in 1952 to take up the task of defending this frontier region. The central authorities established the CPC Tibet Working Committee and its branches in Lhasa and other places to perform its functions. Before democratic reform in 1959, Tibet had political powers with different nature: the Kashag regime and Panchen Kampus Assembly; and the Qamdo People’s Liberation Committee and the Tibet Autonomous Region Preparatory Committee. As the 17-Article Agreement stipulated, “The central government will not alter the current political system of Tibet… In matters related to reform in Tibet, there will be no compulsion on the part of the central government. The local government of Tibet shall take initiative to carry out reform, and when the people raise demands for reform, the central government shall consult with the leading personnel to settle the issue.” The Central People’s Government adopted a circumspect attitude and a rather lenient policy, actively persuading and winning over patriotic people from the upper class while patiently waiting for Tibet’s ruling class to carry out reform. In the meantime, in response to the long-term influence of theocracy in Tibet, CPC-led organizations and staff at different levels carried out meticulous work among the people and conscientiously implemented the policy that no reform should be carried out in Tibet within six years, thus winning the support of the ordinary people and of patriots from the upper class.
面对已经走到尽头的政教合一的封建农奴制，十四世达赖喇嘛和西藏上层反动集团不仅不思改革，还极力维护这一制度，他们担心改革不仅会使他们失去政教特权，还会失去巨大的经济利益。
Even as they were aware that feudal serfdom under theocracy was coming to an end, the 14th Dalai Lama and the reactionaries in Tibet’s upper class had no wish to conduct reform. Instead, they tried to maintain the system for fear that reform would deprive them of their political and religious privileges, together with their huge economic benefits.
三大领主正是通过政教合一的封建农奴制聚敛了大量财富。据统计，民主改革前，十四世达赖喇嘛家族在西藏占有27座庄园、30个牧场，拥有农（牧）奴6000多人，每年在农奴身上榨取的青稞33000多克（1克约合14公斤），酥油2500多克，藏银200多万两，牛羊300头，氆氇175卷。
It was through feudal serfdom under theocracy that the three major estate-holders gathered enormous wealth. Before democratic reform, the family of the 14th Dalai Lama possessed 27 manors, 30 pastures and over 6,000 serfs, and annually wrung out of them more than 462,000 kg of highland barley, 35,000 kg of butter, 2 million liang of Tibetan silver, 300 head of cattle and sheep, and 175 rolls of pulu (woolen fabric made in Tibet).