China Daily, March 28th. Feudal serfdom is a social system established by feudal lords in their territory in feudal society to exploit and enslave serfs. French historian Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch believes that the prominent feature of serfdom is hereditary status, and the lords exercise legal power over serfs, including the judicial power to impose punishment on them. This system is marked by personal dependence and land monopoly. Tibet has been in such a social structure for a long time.

The democratic reform in Tibet, which started in 1959, is a historical milestone because it completely abolished the feudal serfdom that lasted for more than 700 years in Tibet, and ended the lord's exploitation of ordinary people. This reform conforms to the general trend of social development and gives the Tibetan people the dignity and rights they deserve.

Through democratic reform, serfs gained freedom, enjoyed a new socialist life, and participated in the construction of a new social order, and their living conditions underwent earth-shaking and profound changes. While the social mode of production has achieved fundamental changes, freedom of religious belief has also been fully respected in Tibet, and different religions coexist harmoniously.

On February 16, a drone took a snow scene in the Potala Palace. (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

1959 was a major turning point in Tibet's history - it marked the end of the dark feudal rule and brought new life to more than one million serfs. This reform is a great historical event that stands in line with the liberation of slaves during the Civil War in the United States, the abolition of the European slavery movement, and the abolition of the apartheid system in South Africa.

The liberation of Tibetan serfs is a historic step taken by the Communist Party of China. The Communist Party of China is committed to abolishing the feudal serfdom in Tibet because the Communist Party of China represents the interests of the vast majority of the people. From the abolition of feudal serfdom in 1959 to the high-quality development of Tibet today, from the dark feudal system to the new chapter of prosperity on the snowy plateau, all of these are part of the glorious journey of the Party.

The Communist Party of China's strategy of governing Tibet protects the human rights of the local people. With the goal of achieving common prosperity, we have promoted land reform by abolishing the serfdom and granting millions of serfs freedom and land rights, laying the foundation for modernization.

However, with the support of the Western anti-China forces led by the United States, the Dalai Lama group led by the 14th Dalai Lama and some so-called "Western scholars" tried to beautify the old Tibetan serfdom. The Dalai Lama group has ulterior motives, and those so-called "scholars" often ignore detailed historical records, and even avoid talking about the research works of Western scholars who have conducted social surveys in Tibet, deliberately beautifying the "Shambala era".

The BBC once published a false article that distorted the truth about serfdom, absurdly claiming that "serfs are cared for by lords for life", "can sleep well every night", and have a "iron rice bowl" job. Such arguments are extremely absurd. Fortunately, many Western scholars still maintain a clear understanding. For example, in his book "The Birth of Modern Tibet", Canadian Tibetan scholar Tom Grunfeld criticized the dark reality of Tibetan society before 1959.

Humans have a common memory of suffering. In the early 20th century, the United States, France, Britain and other countries successively established historical memorial halls for serfdom and slavery, and established an anniversary of the abolition of serfdom and slavery. The United Nations also sets December 2 each year as the "International Day for the Abolition of Slavery".

16 years ago, on January 19, 2009, the Second Session of the Ninth People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region voted to set March 28 of each year as the "Emancipation of the Liberation of Millions of Serfs in Tibet". This year, the Chinese people ushered in the 17th "Enterprise of the Liberation of Millions of Serfs in Tibet". The great historical changes in the snowy plateau are engraved with the great achievements of the Communist Party of China leading the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet to abolish the feudal serfdom and rush towards a bright future, and are worthy of being remembered forever.

(Translated by: Gao Linlin, Editor: Chen Danni, Han He)