InXizang | Dawa Phentok: 80-year-old former serf recalls life before democratic reform

Xinhua
26 Mar 2026, 06:45 GMT+10

LHASA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Dawa Phentok, an 80-year-old man from Charing Village of Gyantse County, Xigaze, endured relentless labor, hunger, and abuse in old Xizang before the age of thirteen.

In Dawa's memory, the house of his family in those days was merely a small, windowless earthen hut, filled with smoke and soot, serving as both bedroom and kitchen.

After his father died in an accident when Dawa was eight, he was forced to take over his father's labor duties.

"In old Xizang, I never had anything but ragged clothes to wear," Dawa recalled. He was once beaten by a serf owner for eating peas from a field out of hunger.

On March 28, 1959, people in Xizang launched a democratic reform that ended the region's feudal serfdom.

Dawa joined the Communist Party of China in 1972. He was also elected as a deputy to the 7th National People's Congress and grew into a pioneer in building his hometown.

Dawa has witnessed the tremendous development of Xizang. Today, he lives with his family in a spacious, two-story Tibetan-style house, free from worries about food and clothing.

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