Photo exhibition shows dark days of old Tibet

In an early morning in November, villagers gathered for a photo exhibition that generated mixed feelings in Gangdelin village, Nechung township, Lhasa.

"These pictures show what air dried skin looks like after the aristocrats skinned the serfs," Anu, 60, a local official in the village told listeners.

He was talking about the changes that have taken place in Tibet. "Now we live in bright houses. In this photo a herdsman is watering flowers in his newly built house". 

Champa Ngodrup, a local farmer, told People's Daily that he developed a deep understanding of Tibet in the dark and brutal days after seeing the photo show.

"But I also have a good understanding of Tibet in the new era."

The photo exhibition is one of a series of activities the Lhasa government is putting on to help locals learn about the changes that have taken place in Tibet over the decades.

The campaign teams have handed out 34,000 handbooks to 190,000 people in Lhasa, according to People's Daily.

Ma Rongqing, a team leader based in Gangdelin village said the activities help villagers understand that a prosperous and united nation is a guarantee of a powerful backbone for Tibet's development. 

"Since the peaceful liberation, Tibet has had many groundbreaking changes thanks to the Party and governments' leadership", said Champa, a local villager.

"We won't allow separatists to undermine our good lives."

Tibet used to be a society of feudal serfdom under theocratic rule, a society even darker than medieval society in Europe, according to the Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet published by the State Council Information Office. 

The white paper said feudal Tibet was based on a regime that combined politics with religious power, and the people were divided into three major strata, with about 90 percent of the population slaves or serfs. 

Following the signing of the 17-point agreement, the full title of which is: The Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, in 1951, the People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet from four directions and entered Lhasa in October.