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6. The Chinese Communist “Liberation” of Tibet, 1949–51

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Dilemmas of Victory
This chapter is in the book Dilemmas of Victory
by early 1949, Mao Zedong and his Chinese CommunistParty comrades already knew that defeating Chiang Kai-shek and theNationalist regime was no longer a major challenge for them. Themain task facing them was how to build a “new China.” This was anissue with multiple meanings, including how to establish a new Com-munist government; how to rebuild China’s war-torn economy; andhow, as Mao had long envisioned, to carry the revolution to its higher,postvictory stage. At a more basic level, in order to build a “new”China, there was the question of how to define “China”—and theboundaries of China and the composition of the “Chinese nation” inparticular. In a practical political sense, this meant that Mao and hiscomrades would have to determine the relationship between “Chinaproper” and such outlying regions as Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Tibet,which were inhabited mainly by non-Han minority ethnic groups.During the process of the Communist revolution up to the 1940s,the party at times had favored a program of “China federation” as away to deal with the future relationship between China proper and theminority-inhabited outlying regions. According to the program, thepeople of Muslim Xinjiang, Mongolia (both Inner and Outer Mon-golia), and Tibet would first be given “full autonomy” and then, in ac-cordance with the principle of “national self-determination,” woulddecide whether to form a federation with China proper and the Han6The Chinese Communist“Liberation” of Tibet, 1949–51Chen Jian

by early 1949, Mao Zedong and his Chinese CommunistParty comrades already knew that defeating Chiang Kai-shek and theNationalist regime was no longer a major challenge for them. Themain task facing them was how to build a “new China.” This was anissue with multiple meanings, including how to establish a new Com-munist government; how to rebuild China’s war-torn economy; andhow, as Mao had long envisioned, to carry the revolution to its higher,postvictory stage. At a more basic level, in order to build a “new”China, there was the question of how to define “China”—and theboundaries of China and the composition of the “Chinese nation” inparticular. In a practical political sense, this meant that Mao and hiscomrades would have to determine the relationship between “Chinaproper” and such outlying regions as Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Tibet,which were inhabited mainly by non-Han minority ethnic groups.During the process of the Communist revolution up to the 1940s,the party at times had favored a program of “China federation” as away to deal with the future relationship between China proper and theminority-inhabited outlying regions. According to the program, thepeople of Muslim Xinjiang, Mongolia (both Inner and Outer Mon-golia), and Tibet would first be given “full autonomy” and then, in ac-cordance with the principle of “national self-determination,” woulddecide whether to form a federation with China proper and the Han6The Chinese Communist“Liberation” of Tibet, 1949–51Chen Jian

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Acknowledgments xi
  4. 1. The Early Years of the People’s Republic of China: An Introduction 1
  5. I. Urban Takeover
  6. 2. “Cleanup”: The New Order in Shanghai 21
  7. 3. Masters of the Country? Shanghai Workers in the Early People’s Republic 59
  8. 4. New Democracy and the Demise of Private Charity in Shanghai 80
  9. II. Occupying the Periphery
  10. 5. From Resisting Communists to Resisting America: Civil War and Korean War in Southwest China, 1950–51 105
  11. 6. The Chinese Communist “Liberation” of Tibet, 1949–51 130
  12. 7. Big Brother Is Watching: Local Sino-Soviet Relations and the Building of New Dalian, 1945–55 160
  13. 8. The Call of the Oases: The “Peaceful Liberation” of Xinjiang, 1949–53 184
  14. III. The Culture of Accommodation
  15. 9. The Crocodile Bird: Xiangsheng in the Early 1950s 207
  16. 10. “The Very First Lesson”: Teaching about Human Evolution in Early 1950s China 232
  17. 11. Acting Like Revolutionaries: Shi Hui, the Wenhua Studio, and Private-Sector Filmmaking, 1949–52 256
  18. 12. Creating “New China’s First New-Style Regular University,” 1949–50 288
  19. IV. Family Strategies
  20. 13. The Ye Family in New China 311
  21. 14. Birthing Stories: Rural Midwives in 1950s China 337
  22. 15. Capitalists Choosing Communist China: The Liu Family of Shanghai, 1948–56 359
  23. Notes 387
  24. Contributors 445
  25. Index 449
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https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674033658-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Acknowledgments xi
  4. 1. The Early Years of the People’s Republic of China: An Introduction 1
  5. I. Urban Takeover
  6. 2. “Cleanup”: The New Order in Shanghai 21
  7. 3. Masters of the Country? Shanghai Workers in the Early People’s Republic 59
  8. 4. New Democracy and the Demise of Private Charity in Shanghai 80
  9. II. Occupying the Periphery
  10. 5. From Resisting Communists to Resisting America: Civil War and Korean War in Southwest China, 1950–51 105
  11. 6. The Chinese Communist “Liberation” of Tibet, 1949–51 130
  12. 7. Big Brother Is Watching: Local Sino-Soviet Relations and the Building of New Dalian, 1945–55 160
  13. 8. The Call of the Oases: The “Peaceful Liberation” of Xinjiang, 1949–53 184
  14. III. The Culture of Accommodation
  15. 9. The Crocodile Bird: Xiangsheng in the Early 1950s 207
  16. 10. “The Very First Lesson”: Teaching about Human Evolution in Early 1950s China 232
  17. 11. Acting Like Revolutionaries: Shi Hui, the Wenhua Studio, and Private-Sector Filmmaking, 1949–52 256
  18. 12. Creating “New China’s First New-Style Regular University,” 1949–50 288
  19. IV. Family Strategies
  20. 13. The Ye Family in New China 311
  21. 14. Birthing Stories: Rural Midwives in 1950s China 337
  22. 15. Capitalists Choosing Communist China: The Liu Family of Shanghai, 1948–56 359
  23. Notes 387
  24. Contributors 445
  25. Index 449
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