Tibetannet

"Old society was the human hell, the serf not even having the conditions of livestock, working day and night for the master, while taking a beating from time to time!” Recalling the old life seen in Tibet, the elderly man Meisong from the Resuo township of Gyangze county got trapped in grief and pain.

Meisong said that he was born into a slave household, and when he turned 8 or 9 years old, he went off to a very far place to herd, and once he left for many months. During the time, he and several other serf children under the leadership of an elderly individual, herded from one side of one mountain to another. Because they were wearing worn out shoes, the children would often herd the animals bare footed.

One time Meisong injured several parts of the sole of his foot, and from it he was in great pain and bloodstained. But it was just like this and the serf owner would not let him rest. In the night, in a small narrow dark hut, the young Meisong would endure hunger on the one hand while suffering the pains of his injury on the other. Due to this he could only fall asleep very late in the night. The next day, unyielding, he would get up and head up the mountain for another day of herding.

The elderly Meisong remembered “During that time, life was really hard, surviving was a challenge, yet there was no opportunity to complain, for the whole society was this way. You just had to accept the misfortunes as decreed by fate.”

When Meisong was 18 years old, the serf-owner required him to do slave labor, engaging in transportation, doing farm work and odd jobs the whole day, he hardly had any resting time. At that time, he was with the caravan of horses carrying goods engaged in transportation, he walked all throughout the distant travel that lasted for months. In the evening, he would have to randomly find a place to sleep on the ground.

The elderly Meisong said: “At that time, if you had some tsamba to eat, some tea to drink, that was already a very good meal, most of the time you did not eat enough food, you would suffer starvation and look thin like a piece of dried firewood. Even now you will feel uncomfortable thinking of that!” The elderly man pointed at a very deep wound on his shoulder, telling that: “This was from the whipping by the serf-owner in the old Tibet. It was just because one morning I was sick so I came to work a little late, the serf-owner said I was lazy and beated me.

Nowadays, I use this whip scar to educate my children, letting them understand the ugliness of the old society and for urging cherish the happy life that comes not easily; letting them study hard to become a useful member of the society,” tears were forming in the elderly man’s eyes when he told us about this.

A two story Tibetan styled hut spacious with bright interiors. In front of the windows are several rows of fresh blooming flowers. In the living room, there is an LED television, a refrigerator and all other electric appliances available when needed; atop the Tibetan style table is draped a Tibetan rug, atop the table are cold drinks, liquor and cookies; in the garden, is parked an automobile, a transport truck and two tractors… this is Meisong’s house today.

With the support of the Chinese Communist Party’s policies, Meisong was able under a loan to purchase his first transport truck in the year 2000. His older son, Zhaxi got engaged in the transport industry related to peasant-herder housing project for low-income urban residents as well as in highway construction amongst other basic government facilities construction projects. As the state’s investments in the herding areas mounted, Meisong’s household income also started to mount, improving more and more. Currently, their annual household income is at about 200,000 RMB.

Currently, Meisong is already over 80 years old, his daily life is spent chatting with the neighbors while bathing in the sun, or visiting the temple to pray. Two of his three children are state level public servants, working for the state, this also justifies the elderly man’s wish to repay the kindness by paying it forward. He says: “All the life we have today, was given to us by the communist party.”