It's controversial whether Tibet had medieval serfdoms in the Western sense, see Serfdom in Tibet controversy
And it was also in process of reform already when the Chinese invaded.
Unlike Western Europe a large part of the Tibetan population was nomadic, and continued to be so after the Chinese invaded and continued to be so until quite recently when they were forced by the Chinese to give up their nomadic lifestyle and live in modern houses - in the interests of "progress".
Then many also owned their own land in Tibet.
Then - anyone could become a monk or nun. And the realized lamas who reincarnated could come from any walk of life. The Dalai Lama himself was born as a child of a small farmer.
So - any parallel with ancient systems of organization in China or the West is bound to be only partial.
There may have been a small amount of slavery - but it was mild. as the slaves could move to another part of Tibet or India if the conditions were too onerous for them.
This is what wikipedia says about it, in Serfdom in Tibet controversy: Problem of "Slavery" -
And on the plus side, Tibet well before the Chinese invasion, in 1915 was one of the first countries to end capital punishment - which is still carried out in US and China.
And there are of course many human rights violations in present day Tibet under Chinese rule.
Most notably the Panchen Lama who disappeared at age 6 as the world's youngest political prisoner, and has never been heard of since, the Chinese say he is healthy, well, and leading a normal life but haven't let anyone in the international community verify this. He is now in his mid twenties if still alive.
Anyway - to move on we need to look at the present situation. Bhutan changed and reformed, so would Tibet have done, whatever its system was back then.
There is no proposal to introduce serfdom or slavery to Tibet. Tibetans don't have slaves, no more than we do here in the UK.
At least, not legally - you get cases of illegal slavery and human trafficking almost anywhere in the world including here in the UK, see Campaign targets modern slavery - and I'm sure it must happen in China also - and we used to have slaves here legally also, around the time the Americans did, abolished it a little earlier, in 1833 instead of 1865, Slavery in the British Isles..
All the Dalai Lama has asked for is religious freedom, and autonomy to make decisions relating to their own lives and the ecology of Tibet and such like, within the political sphere of China as an autonomous region.
He has said that he is interested in Marxism himself, sees it as compatible with Buddhism. Buddhism doesn't specify any form of political organization and has been combined with many forms of politics in the past. So there is no problem combining it with Marxism, or with a democracy, or with any other form of political and social organization.
So - I can't see this analogy proving particularly helpful or productive in East-West dialog about the situation in Tibet.
And it was also in process of reform already when the Chinese invaded.
Unlike Western Europe a large part of the Tibetan population was nomadic, and continued to be so after the Chinese invaded and continued to be so until quite recently when they were forced by the Chinese to give up their nomadic lifestyle and live in modern houses - in the interests of "progress".
Then many also owned their own land in Tibet.
Then - anyone could become a monk or nun. And the realized lamas who reincarnated could come from any walk of life. The Dalai Lama himself was born as a child of a small farmer.
So - any parallel with ancient systems of organization in China or the West is bound to be only partial.
There may have been a small amount of slavery - but it was mild. as the slaves could move to another part of Tibet or India if the conditions were too onerous for them.
This is what wikipedia says about it, in Serfdom in Tibet controversy: Problem of "Slavery" -
Israel Epstein wrote that prior to the Communist takeover, poverty in Tibet was so severe that in some of the worst cases peasants had to hand over children to the manor as household slaves or nangzan, because they were too poor to raise them.[78] On the other hand, Laird asserted that in the 1940s Tibetan peasants were well off and immune to famine, whereas starvation was common in China.[79] According to other sources, the so-called "slaves" were domestic servants (nangtsen) and managers of estates in reality.[80]
In 1904 the British army invaded and held the Tibetan Chumbi Valley, in the border region adjacent to Bhutan and India. Sir Charles Bell was put in charge of the district from September 1904 to November 1905[81] and wrote that slavery was still practiced in Chumbi but had declined greatly over the previous thirty years. He noted that only a dozen or two dozen slaves remained, unlike nearby Bhutan where slavery was more widespread. Bell further remarked, "The slavery in the Chumpi valley was of a very mild type. If a slave was not well treated, it was easy for him to escape into Sikkim and British India."[82]
And on the plus side, Tibet well before the Chinese invasion, in 1915 was one of the first countries to end capital punishment - which is still carried out in US and China.
And there are of course many human rights violations in present day Tibet under Chinese rule.
Most notably the Panchen Lama who disappeared at age 6 as the world's youngest political prisoner, and has never been heard of since, the Chinese say he is healthy, well, and leading a normal life but haven't let anyone in the international community verify this. He is now in his mid twenties if still alive.
Anyway - to move on we need to look at the present situation. Bhutan changed and reformed, so would Tibet have done, whatever its system was back then.
There is no proposal to introduce serfdom or slavery to Tibet. Tibetans don't have slaves, no more than we do here in the UK.
At least, not legally - you get cases of illegal slavery and human trafficking almost anywhere in the world including here in the UK, see Campaign targets modern slavery - and I'm sure it must happen in China also - and we used to have slaves here legally also, around the time the Americans did, abolished it a little earlier, in 1833 instead of 1865, Slavery in the British Isles..
All the Dalai Lama has asked for is religious freedom, and autonomy to make decisions relating to their own lives and the ecology of Tibet and such like, within the political sphere of China as an autonomous region.
He has said that he is interested in Marxism himself, sees it as compatible with Buddhism. Buddhism doesn't specify any form of political organization and has been combined with many forms of politics in the past. So there is no problem combining it with Marxism, or with a democracy, or with any other form of political and social organization.
So - I can't see this analogy proving particularly helpful or productive in East-West dialog about the situation in Tibet.
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Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
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