The 7th-12th Centuries

Early in the 7th century, the powerful Tang Dynasty was founded in the Central Plains, ending the disintegration and chaotic situation that had prevailed in the region for more than 300 years. In the meantime, the Spurgyal tribe rose in the Yarlung area in today’s Shannan. The tribe conquered others in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and formed the Tubo Kingdom in the 7th century.

Tubo kings married two Tang Dynasty princesses, and political, economic and cultural relations between the two nations became increasingly friendly and extensive. The same period, however, also saw conflicts in the cultural, economic, political and even military spheres. Through repeated collision, the political interests of the two gradually came into line, and the Tibetans maintained close ties with the Han and other ethnic groups in China.

The desire for peace reigned and the Tang and Tubo met on eight major occasions. The Tang-Tubo Peace Pledge Monument was erected in front of the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa following the end of the eighth peace meeting.

In 842, the Tubo Kingdom broke up and slave uprisings in the late 9th century destroyed the ruling system. Several regimes emerged. In the ensuing 300-400 years, the Tibetan race maintained close ties with the Northern Song, Southern Song, Western Xia, Liao and Jin regimes. After the 13th century, all the major events that happened in the Tibetan history were related to the historical situation in the hinterland.

Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)

In 1227 the Mongols defeated Western Xia. In 1247, Mongol Prince Godan invited Pandit Gonggar Gyamcain, an eminent monk with the Sagya Sect that greatly influenced Buddhist worship on the Tibetan Plateau, to a meeting in Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei in Gansu Province). They reached agreement for Us-Tsang (present-day Lhasa, Xigaze and Ngari) to pledge allegience to the Mongol Kharnate. Leaders of various Tibetan tribes were granted official titles. In 1271, the Mongolian conquerors took Yuan as the name of their dynasty. Us-Tsang thus became a part of the Yuan, and Tibet was finally included as a directly governed administrative unit.

When the Yuan unified China, the rulers adopted a series of measures for rule over Tibet. They included the following:

• The Zongzhi Yuan was set up to manage Tibetan affairs. In 1288, it was renamed Xuanzheng Yuan. The Prime Minister usually took the post of executive president of the Xuanzheng Yuan concurrently, while a monk recommended by the Imperial Tutor held the post of vice-president.
• Tibetan monks and lay people were given high official titles for management over Tibetan affairs. In 1270, Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan conferred the official title of State Tutor (promoted to be Imperial Tutor in 1270) on Pagba, an eminent monk with the Sagya Sect. This was the highest official post of a monk official in the Chinese history. → From then on, Imperial Tutor became a high-ranking official in the Central Government directly appointed by the Emperor. He was in charge of Buddhist affairs in the whole country, and local affairs in Tibet. → From then on, all the officials in Us-Tsang were appointed by the Central Government.
• Tibet was divided into different administrative areas, and the Yuan rulers appointed pacification commissioners for the U (Lhasa area), Tsang (Xigaze area), and Nagri Korsum (Ngari area), who were put directly under the Xuanzheng Yuan. In addition, 13 10,000-household offices and several 1,000-household offices were set up in U-Tsang to take charge of collecting taxes. A Boinqen official was appointed in present-day Sagya, then the capital of U-Tsang, to assist the pacification commissioners in ruling various 10,000-household offices.

What the Yuan rulers did in terms of administrative division exerted great influence on the way the ensuing Ming Dynasty ruled Tibet.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

Soon after the Ming Dynasty replaced the Yuan Dynasty in 1368, the Central Government sent officials to the Tibetan-inhabited areas, calling for various tribal leaders to swear allegiance to the new ruler. Old official seals were reclaimed and replaced by new ones in a peaceful transition. The Ming continued sovereignty over Tibet.

The Ming abolished the official system the Yuan had adopted. But, the Ming rulers introduced a new system of granting official titles to Tibetan monks. All the representative figures in Tibet received official titles from the Ming court; granted official seals of authority, they managed affairs of their own areas. It was made clear then that the inheritance of their official titles was possible only with the approval of the emperor.

The central authorities of the Ming, following the administrative and military systems of the Yuan, with monk and lay leaders of various administrative and military organs appointed by the Central Government. The appointed officials were granted seals of authority. Their promotion or dismissal from office had to have the approval of the Central Government.

Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

When the Qing Dynasty was founded in 1644, the Qing rulers decreed that those in Tibet granted official titles by the Ming court might retain their official position so long as they turned over their official seals and applied for new ones from the Qing court. In 1652, the 5th Dalai Lama was summoned to Beijing for an audience with Emperor Shunzhi; he received his official title from the Qing court the following year. The honorific title of the Dalai Lama was finally officially determined and the following generations of the Dalai Lama all had to seek Central Government certificates of appointment and seal of authority for their rule in Tibet.

Based on the experience gained by the Yuan and Ming dynasties in rule over Tibet, the Qing court did the following:

• Stationing High Commissioners in Tibet. The Qing court specified that the High Commissioners enjoyed an official position equal to that of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni. They were charged with supervising the Gaxag government led by the Dalai Lama in its work. Galoon officials and Depoin officers were appointed by the Dalai Lama and the High Commissioners but the appointment needed Central Government approval. Officials and officers below these ranks might be appointed by the High Commissioners and the Dalai Lama together;
• Readjusting the temporal and religious administration system in Tibet. The Qing court determined on the administrative framework and the form of local political power. It abolished the prefectural king system and replaced it with the Gaxag government (the local government of Tibet);
• Granting honorific titles to the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni with a view to supporting them in their management of Tibetan affairs, making it possible for them to continue their religious and administrative positions in the region. It was specified that, under the supervision of the Qing High Commissioners stationed in Tibet, the method of drawing lots from the golden urn be used to determine the reincarnated soul boy of the late Dalai Lama, the late Panchen Erdeni or leading Living Buddha; with the approval of the Central Government, the determined soul boy would take over religious and administrative rule;
• Establishing the principles such as foreign affairs and border defense of Tibet being the prerogative of the Central Government; and
• Delineating Tibet’s border with Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan, specifying the areas under the rule of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni and their respective power, and making clear the area directly under the Qing High Commissioners.

During the Opium War of 1840, Tibetan soldiers from the Tibetan-inhabited areas in present-day Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu fought tenaciously against the British invaders in Ningbo and Dabaoshan on China’s southeast coast. Meanwhile, the British invaded Ngari in western Tibet. Directed by the Qing High Commissioners, the 13th Dalai Lama and the 9th Panchen Erdeni led the Tibetan army and civilians to resist the British invaders. The Tibetan armymen and civilians fought the British invaders on two occasions, in 1888 and 1904.

Republic of China (1912-1949)

China experienced great historic changes after the Revolution of 1911, which brought down the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China in 1912. The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, enacted under the auspices of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Interim President, stipulated that Tibet was one of the 22 provinces of the Republic of China. Stipulations concerning Tibet in the Constitution of the Republic of China promulgated later all stressed that Tibet is an inseparable part of Chinese territory.

In July 1912, the nationalist government established the Council for the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs (renamed the Council of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs in May 1914). Officials were appointed to take over the functions of the High commissioners in Tibet, kand they worked directly under the State Council. When the Nanjing government was founded, the Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs was renamed the Commision for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs in 1929. In April 1940, the Commision set up its Lhasa Office which functioned as a Central Government organ in Tibet.

During the Republic of China, the local government of Tibet and the Panchen Kampus Assembly all reported to the Central Government on matters concerning major events in Tibet, such as the demise of the 13th Dalai Lama, the funeral arrangements, the ceremony for the enthronement of the 14th Dalai Lama, the demise of the 9th Panchen Erdeni, the funeral arrangements, and the ceremony for the enthronement of the 10th Panchen, which were performed with the approval of the Central Government. In December 1933, the 13th Dalai Lama died and the Gaxag government made a report to the Central Government. Within the same month, the Nanjing government bestowed honors on the late Dalai Lama and sent Huang Musong to Tibet for the funeral. On January 31, 1934, the Nanjing government cabled to approve the Living Buddha Razheng to be regent. With Regent Razheng in charge, the soul boy of the late 13th Dalai Lama was found in Qinghai in accordance with religious precedence; he was Lhamo Toinzhub. In 1940, the Nationalist Government decreed that the soul boy be exempt from the lot-drawing ceremony and could become the 14th Dalai Lama directly. The Nationalist Government also sent Wu Zhongxin, Chairman of the Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs, to Tibet where he met Regent Razheng, and presided over the enthronement ceremony for the 14th Dalai Lama. In early 1949, the Nationalist Government sent envoys to the Tar Monastery in Qinghai for the rituals held for the soul boy of the late 9th Panchen Erdeni, and declared that Gongbo Cedain was the 10th Panchen Erdeni. In August, the Nationalist Government sent an envoy to Qinghai to preside over the enthronement ceremony of the 10th Panchen Erdeni.

Historical records show the Dalai Lama, the local government of Tibet and Panchen Erdeni sent representatives to attend various National Assembly meetings, national government organizations or various national congresses; and many of them were elected to work in these national government organizations, making it possible for them to have a say in government affairs.

People’s Republic of China (Founded in 1949)

When the People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949, the 10th Panchen Erdeni, one of the two major Living Buddhas in Tibet, announced his support for the Central Government and his wish to see early liberation of Tibet.

PRC leaders decided to do what they could in this regard. However, the local government of Tibet, which was still in the grip of pro-imperialist separatists, failed to respond positively. Instead, it tried to resist the PLA militarily. The Central Government tried but failed to talk it over. Therefore, in October 1950, the PLA fought the Qamdo campaign and liberates the area it immediately. The Liberation Committee of the Qamdo Area under the PRC government followed; various counties under Qamdo then followed suit. The PLA victory expedited the peace talks between the Central Government and the local government of Tibet.

From April to May 1951, representatives of the Central Government and those of the local government of Tibet negotiated terms for the peaceful liberation of Tibet. On May 23, they signed in Beijing the Agreement Between the Central Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. As the agreement contains 17 articles, it is often referred to as the 17-Article Agreement. The 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Erdeni both cabled the Central Government, expressing their support for the agreement and their determination to safeguard the unity of the sovereignty of the motherland. Tibet won peaceful liberation in accordance with the agreement.

The 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Erdeni attended the first National People’s Congress of the PRC. And the 14th Dalai Lama was elected a vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and the 10th Panchen Erdeni a member of the NPC Standing Committee. On April 22, 1956, the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region was set up in Lhasa, with the 14th Dalai Lama serving its director and the 10th Panchen Erdeni its first deputy director.

Reform is a principle was contained in the 17-Article Agreement. But the ruling class n Tibet still clung to feudal serfdom, which had been abolished for some 100 years in Europe, as something indispensable for Tibet. They fought tenaciously with the Central Government and the progressive forces in Tibet over whether the 17-Article Agreement should be implemented. On March 10, 1959, the reactionary slave owners declared publicly "the independence of Tibet" and staged an armed rebellion. On March 28, the Central Government announced abolition of the local Gaxag government of Tibet, and the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region took over governance in the region. As the 14th Dalai Lama had fled abroad, the 10th Panchen Erdeni worked as the acting director of the committee.

The Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region passed on in June and September 1959 the "Resolution on Democratic Reform in the Whole Area of Tibet" and the "Resolution on Abolition of Feudal Serf-Ownership of Land and Introduction of Farmer Land Ownership", deciding to fully arouse the masses to action and carry out the Democratic Reform throughout the region. The reform was completed at the end of 1961, and various counties, districts and townships set up their people’s power organs.

In March 1962, the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region issued "Directives on Conducting Election at the Grassroots Level in Tibet (Draft)". Following this, 92 percent of the townships conducted elections on the basis of establishing Peasants Association. From July to August 1965, election at the county-level was completed, and 301 deputies to the People’s Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region were elected. The First Session of the First People’s Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region was held from September 1-9, 1965 in Lhasa, and the Tibet Autonomous Region was proclaimed as founded.