Infant Deqen Zholma lay on the ground in a cowshed, staring at a bull aside. She was born there just like her mother and grandmother. As a descendant of a langsheng (home slave) family, the lowest class in Tibetan society before 1959, the just-born Deqen Zholma was taken to the majordomo of her lord family for registration as a new piece of "private property."

As stipulated in the Thirteen-Article Code and Sixteen-Article Code that had been enforced for several hundred years in Tibet, serf-owners can dispose of their "private properties" freely, by either granting them to other people as a gift or exchanging for horses.

Fortunately, she soon shook off the bondage of serf-owners thanks to the democratic reform in 1959. Now the 51-year-old Deqen Zholma lives in Gyangze and breeds six bulls, all of them her own.

In a newly completed documentary film, Deqen Zholma recalls the miserable life of her childhood. Six other witnesses, with identities of chaiba (serfs bearing taxes and errands), duiqiong (poor serf households), langsheng, serf-owner and lama in the past, also share their experiences in detail.

The 25-minute documentary film, titled Past Affairs in Tibet, was produced by China Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio. It focuses on one key question: What was Tibet like in the past, a Shangri-la or a cruel feudal serf society?

"This documentary is shot for foreign audiences who either know or do not know Tibet, and we use the dictation of eye-witnesses and historical video clips to show audience the facts," Wu Haiyue, director of the documentary, told China.org.cn.

All the historical video clips were made by the China Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio in the 1950s. "We find some typical figures and places from piles of old video materials, and try to track them through old photos or home videos."

The producing staff visited these places 50 years later in search of these people. As the film shows, buildings of manor and monastery stand the same; even the people in the old film materials, who have already reached an old age, can still be identified. However, the living experiences presented in black-and-white film scenes and new interview videos pose a strong contrast.

"Its authenticity can be judged through the scenes of the same place and the same person." Wu hopes this documentary film can help audiences better know the Tibetan society and the living status of common Tibetan people before democratic reform in 1959.

Related Reading
·Tibet Facts & Figures (2002)
·Tibet Facts & Figures (2005)
·Qinghai-Tibet Railway
·40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Tibet Autonomous Region
·50 Years in Tibet
·Late Autumn in Tibet
·Tibet Through My Camera's Lens

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, February 5, 2007)