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1959 Tibetan Uprising and Subsequent Control

On March 10, 1959, mass protests erupted in Lhasa and escalated into armed conflict; the PLA shelled the city, and the Dalai Lama fled to India on March 17. Beijing then abolished the Kashag government, abrogated the Seventeen-Point Agreement, imposed "democratic reforms," destroyed thousands of monasteries — tens of thousands of Tibetans died and some 80,000 fled into exile.

Time

March 10–23, 1959 (armed conflict); subsequent control continues to this day

Place

Lhasa and Tibetan regions (guerrilla war had already erupted in Kham and Amdo)

Decision-makers

Mao Zedong (CCP Chairman, CMC Chairman); Liu Shaoqi (Vice Chairman, chaired the March 11 and 17 Politburo meetings); Zhou Enlai (Premier); Peng Dehuai (Defense Minister, chaired the 167th CMC meeting on March 12); Tan Guansan (Tibet Work Committee secretary); Zhang Guohua (Tibet Military Region commander)

Background: the Seventeen-Point Agreement and the Kham-Amdo guerrilla war

In October 1950 the PLA advanced on Chamdo, and Tibetan negotiators signed the "Agreement Between the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" — the Seventeen-Point Agreement (May 23, 1951). It promised Tibet "regional ethnic autonomy," left the Dalai Lama's "established status and powers" unchanged, and stipulated that "the Central Government will not compel" reforms in Tibet — i.e., socialist transformation such as land reform would be deferred in Tibet proper.

But the agreement's scope was fundamentally disputed. Kham (western Sichuan Tibetan areas) and Amdo (Qinghai Tibetan areas) were administratively outside the Lhasa Kashag's jurisdiction, and from 1956 the CCP forcibly imposed "democratic reforms" there — confiscating monastery and headmen's land, struggle sessions against lamas — igniting Tibetan resistance. Armed revolts broke out in Litang and Batang in 1956; the "Chushi Gangdruk" (Four Rivers, Six Ranges) guerrilla force under Gompo Tashi Andrugtsang waged war with covert CIA support under the "ST Circus" program (training fighters, airdropping weapons). The guerrilla war ran from 1956 through 1962, gradually spreading toward Lhasa.

By early 1959 Lhasa was a tinderbox. On February 7 (Tibetan New Year's Eve), PLA Tibet Military Region deputy commander Deng Shaodong invited the Dalai Lama to a performance by the region's song-and-dance troupe. For lighting and staging reasons the venue was moved from the Norbulingka palace to the military region auditorium, set for March 10. By tradition the Dalai Lama traveled with a 25-man Tibetan army honor guard, but the military region refused them entry per "standing rules," while fortifications were being built inside the compound — seen by the Kashag as grave disrespect. Worse, lamas in Qinghai and Sichuan had recently been lured to "study sessions" and "banquets" and then detained; rumors mutated into "the Han are going to take the Dalai Lama away" and "the Dalai Lama has been kidnapped."

Who decided

Mao Zedong was the supreme decision-maker. Mid-February 1959: Mao called the rebellions "extremely favorable" — justification for future suppression and reform. Early March: the Politburo decided to reinforce Tibet while ordering "do not fire the first shot." March 17: two shells near Norbulingka (the Dalai Lama's reason for fleeing) were "almost certainly not ordered by Beijing" — likely accidental. March 20: commander Tan Guansan opened fire early without waiting; Mao reportedly did not punish him.

Who decided

Mao Zedong was the supreme decision-maker. Key decisions:

• Mid-February 1959: after reading PLA General Staff reports on rebellions in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai Tibetan areas, Mao wrote: "Rebellions like these are extremely favorable to us, for they help us train troops and people, and provide ample justification for future suppression and comprehensive reform." (Scholar's citation of internal documents — unverified.)
• Early March 1959 Politburo meeting: learning the Dalai Lama had left Lhasa, the Politburo decided to immediately reinforce Tibet while reiterating "do not fire the first shot." (Memoir account — unverified.)
• March 17 — two shells near Norbulingka: the Dalai Lama cited this as his direct reason for fleeing. Scholarly research: "almost certainly not ordered by Beijing" — contradicting the repeated "no first shot" directive; "most likely an accident." (Inference from limited archives — unverified.)
• March 20 — Tan Guansan opened fire early: the Lhasa PLA commander, feeling threatened, launched the "Battle of Lhasa" without waiting for credible evidence of Tibetans firing first or for reinforcements. Mao reportedly did not punish him, appreciating his "fierce elimination of Tibetan resistance." (Unverified.)

CCP leadership in Tibet: Zhang Jingwu (first secretary), Zhang Guohua (military region commander), Tan Guansan (Lhasa front commander).

Detailed timeline: March 1959

March 10: Tens of thousands of Tibetans converged on the Norbulingka, surrounding the Dalai Lama's summer palace, begging him to cancel the military-region visit — then demanding the Tibetan guard be replaced by a people's escort. Crowds seized three kalons (ministers) inside the Norbulingka, posted placards and shouted slogans demanding the Communists leave Tibet. Pro-Beijing kalon Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and others fled into the military region for protection; his brother Sonam Gyaltsen was beaten to death. The besiegers elected 100+ representatives forming a "People's Assembly" that effectively replaced the Kashag. Exiled Tibetans later designated March 10 "Tibetan National Uprising Day."

March 11: Liu Shaoqi convened Zhou Enlai, Peng Zhen, Peng Dehuai, Chen Yi, Yang Shangkun and Xu Bing to discuss Tibet. At 11 p.m. the Center ordered the 54th Army in Chengdu to form the "Ding Command" (under army commander Ding Sheng) to enter Tibet commanding the 134th and 11th Divisions; simultaneously Chengdu Military Region deputy commander Huang Xinting was ordered to form the "Huang Command" with the 130th Division, 42nd Division and Chamdo garrison for the Chamdo theater. The Center also cabled the Tibet Work Committee that "the CMC is actively making military preparations." The next day (March 12) Peng Dehuai chaired the 167th CMC meeting in Beijing finalizing Tibet combat preparations. Researchers note the top leadership never intended a "political solution" to avoid bloodshed.

March 15: The CMC issued advance deployment orders to the Chengdu, Lanzhou and Kunming Military Regions. By March 16, a week into the Lhasa incident, military deployment was nearly complete.

March 17: The situation turned suddenly. Around 2 p.m. (Lhasa time) the Dalai Lama met with kalons in the Norbulingka's Golden Hall; around 3 p.m. militia member Zeng Huishan of the Qinghai-Tibet highway transport station fired two mortar shells toward the Norbulingka's north gate, causing panic. Mainland publications attribute the shells to the unauthorized act of "economic policeman" Zeng Huishan, but the March 1959 Xinhua communiqué said nothing about March 17, and no investigation result of the "unauthorized firing" was ever published — leaving doubts. That night the Dalai Lama sought an oracle's guidance and decided to flee (see below). The same afternoon Liu Shaoqi chaired a Politburo meeting concluding: "Our work must now proceed not from waiting for the old Tibetan government's upper strata to awaken, but from resolute suppression of the rebellion and comprehensive reform."

March 19: The Politburo met all day on Tibet. Yang Shangkun's diary records: "Per the Tibet Work Committee: the Dalai Lama fled south on the 16th or 17th." This was Beijing's first confirmation of the flight, though the exact date remained uncertain.

March 20: The PLA launched a general assault on Lhasa; full "counterinsurgency" operations began. The Norbulingka sustained over 800 artillery hits; major monasteries were bombed, looted and burned, priceless scriptures and artworks piled in the streets and torched. The remnants of the Dalai Lama's bodyguard were publicly executed; anyone found with weapons was killed. Fighting lasted until about March 23, when Lhasa was fully secured.

March 28: Premier Zhou Enlai signed the order dissolving the Tibetan local government (the Kashag), transferring authority to the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region, and proclaimed "resolute suppression of the rebellion, comprehensive reform." Beijing later designated March 28 "Serfs Emancipation Day" (from 2009).

The Dalai Lama's flight

After the two shells on March 17 the Dalai Lama still hesitated. He sought an oracle: the Nechung Oracle performed the ritual dance and delivered the instruction to leave that very night. The 23-year-old Dalai Lama, disguised as an ordinary soldier, slipped out of Lhasa with his mother, sister, brother-in-law Phuntsok Tashi, younger brother, tutors Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche, three kalons and some 600 attendants and Tibetan troops on horseback, heading south into the Lhoka region where Chushi Gangdruk guerrillas operated.

The party crossed the Himalayas over two weeks, reaching the Indian border on March 31. Prime Minister Nehru granted political asylum. The Dalai Lama established the Tibetan government-in-exile (Central Tibetan Administration) in Dharamshala, India, advocating the "Middle Way" policy (genuine autonomy rather than independence), and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Some 80,000 Tibetans followed into exile, forming a diaspora community that endures today.

Notably, the CIA's "ST Circus" program had trained Tibetan guerrillas and airdropped weapons; CIA assets also assisted the Dalai Lama's escape route. This Cold War backdrop made Tibet a lasting sensitive issue in U.S.–China relations.

Who executed

Chain: Central Committee/CMC → Tibet Military Region (Zhang Guohua) → Tan Guansan → PLA troops, artillery, tanks. March 10: Norbulingka surrounded. March 12–14: women's protests (leaders later executed). March 17: the Dalai Lama fled. March 20–23: shelling of Norbulingka and monasteries; the Jokhang stormed; at least 4,000 arrested. Aftermath: the Kashag dissolved; the Seventeen-Point Agreement abrogated; 2,500 monasteries in 1959, only 70 open by 1962.

Who executed

Execution chain: Central Committee/CMC → Tibet Military Region (Zhang Guohua) → Lhasa front commander Tan Guansan → PLA troops, artillery, tanks.

• March 10: thousands of Tibetans surrounded Norbulingka to stop the Dalai Lama attending a PLA performance (unescorted), amid rumors of abduction. Protests turned violent — first against pro-Chinese Tibetan officials, then "Chinese out of Tibet" slogans.
• March 12: thousands of women rallied at the Jokhang ("Women's Uprising Day," led by Pamo Kusang); March 14, Gurteng Kusang's protest — she was later arrested and executed.
• March 17: the Dalai Lama fled after two shells landed near Norbulingka; a two-week Himalayan crossing to India under Khampa guerrilla escort.
• March 20: PLA shelled Norbulingka; street fighting lasted three days.
• March 21: 800 shells on Norbulingka (exile claim); Drepung, Ganden, Sera monasteries shelled.
• March 23: PLA stormed the Jokhang — three hours of fighting, tanks broke through, the Chinese flag raised; the uprising ended. "Corpses everywhere" in Lhasa streets; at least 4,000 arrested.

Post-war "democratic reform": the Kashag government dissolved; the Seventeen-Point Agreement abrogated; land reform extended. Monasteries systematically destroyed: 2,500 in 1959, only 70 open by 1962 (97% gone); thousands of monks and nuns executed or arrested.

Subsequent control: "democratic reforms" and monastery destruction

Abolition of the Kashag and the Seventeen-Point Agreement. Following the March 28, 1959 State Council order dissolving the Tibetan local government, the Seventeen-Point Agreement was effectively abrogated. The Tibet Autonomous Region was formally established in 1965, fully replacing Lhasa's traditional theocratic system.

"Democratic reforms" (1959–1961). Land reform was extended into former Kashag territory: aristocratic and monastic lands confiscated and distributed to serfs; corvée labor (ula) and usury abolished. Official narratives hail this as the "liberation of a million serfs," but the reforms came with mass struggle sessions, arrests and executions. Many aristocrats, lamas and headmen were labeled "serf owners" or "reactionaries," facing imprisonment, labor reform or execution.

Monastery destruction. After the suppression, vast numbers of monasteries were closed, demolished or repurposed. Destruction peaked during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976): of Tibet's 2,700+ monasteries the overwhelming majority were destroyed, with only the Potala Palace and a handful spared. Scriptures, statues and thangkas were lost or damaged on a scale still impossible to quantify precisely.

Ongoing control. After 1959 Beijing built a tight control apparatus in Tibet: garrisons, Party-state organs, "patriotic education" campaigns. In March 2008 Lhasa again saw mass protests (the "3·14 incident") spreading to Gannan and Aba; paramilitary suppression caused casualties on both sides. Controls tightened further afterward: monastery "patriotic education," monk "evaluations," and travel restrictions to Tibet continue today. Tibetan self-immolation protests have exceeded 150 cases since 2009 (per exile-Tibetan counts).

The Panchen Lama's fate. Unlike the Dalai Lama, the Tenth Panchen Lama, Choekyi Gyaltsen, chose to stay in Tibet. After March 1959 he served as vice-chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region, later as its acting chairman, and was held up for a time as the model of a "patriotic" religious leader. But after seeing on inspection tours how democratic reform was actually being carried out, in May 1962 he submitted to the State Council a report of some 70,000 characters — the "70,000-character Petition" — setting out in detail the indiscriminate arrests and killings, the destruction of monasteries and the deterioration of ordinary people's lives during the suppression and the reforms, and asking for correction. In 1964 the Panchen Lama was publicly denounced at a meeting of the Preparatory Committee, stripped of his posts, and held under detention and investigation for years; during the Cultural Revolution he was imprisoned in Qincheng Prison, and was not released until 1977. In January 1989 he died at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, aged 51. That the man who stayed and cooperated met such an end is a further footnote to Tibet's condition after 1959.

Scale & Methodology

Who opposed

Armed resistance: Chushi Gangdruk guerrillas, remnant Tibetan army, Lhasa citizens. CIA "ST Circus": training, logistics, airdrops (public record). The Dalai Lama: exile, Dharamshala government, Nobel 1989. International: India sheltered 80,000; USSR moral support; US 2000 "Tibetan Uprising Day" resolution. Women: March 12 uprising; Gurteng Kusang executed.

Who opposed

1. Tibetan armed resistance: Chushi Gangdruk (Khampa guerrillas, fighting since 1956, escorted the Dalai Lama out); remnant Tibetan army units; Lhasa citizens who barricaded streets and seized machine guns.

2. CIA covert support ("ST Circus"): training (Camp Hale, Colorado), Nepal-base logistics, weapons airdrops; secret aid during the Dalai Lama's escape. (The CIA Tibet program is public record.)

3. The Dalai Lama: fled March 17, 1959; declared Tibetan independence restored at the Indian border; established the Dharamshala exile government and the non-violent "Middle Way." Nobel Peace Prize 1989.

4. International responses: India — Nehru condemned China as an "aggressor," sheltered 80,000 refugees. USSR — moral support as "legitimate grievance." US — 2000 Senate resolution recognizing March 10 as "Tibetan Uprising Day."

5. Women's resistance: the March 12 "Women's Uprising Day"; Gurteng Kusang executed after her March 14 protest.

Unlike campaigns where no one questioned the goal, Tibet 1959's "opposition" was an armed, internationally backed national resistance with an exile government enduring to this day.

Impact

End of traditional Tibet. The Kashag was dissolved, the Seventeen-Point Agreement abrogated, the Dalai Lama exiled — ending centuries of theocratic rule. The Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965, fully absorbing Tibet into the CCP Party-state system.

Formation of the exile community. Some 80,000 Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into India and Nepal, building a government-in-exile in Dharamshala. The diaspora preserved Tibetan language, religion and culture, becoming the main international voice on Tibet.

Devastation of monastic civilization. From the 1959 suppression through the Cultural Revolution, the overwhelming majority of Tibet's 2,700+ monasteries were destroyed, with immense losses of scriptures and artifacts — an unprecedented cultural catastrophe in Tibetan Buddhist history whose full extent remains unassessed.

Beginning of permanent control. 1959 established Beijing's "resolute suppression, comprehensive reform" doctrine for Tibet; every sensitive anniversary (March 10, the Dalai Lama's birthday) still triggers high alert. The 2008 Lhasa protests and the subsequent wave of self-immolations continue the unresolved legacy of 1959.

UN resolutions and the exile government today. On October 21, 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 1353, calling for respect for the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people; Resolution 1723 of 1961 and Resolution 2079 of 1965 went further, reaffirming the Tibetans' right to self-determination. These were the few occasions in the Cold War when the United Nations spoke directly on Tibet; afterward the issue was gradually submerged in the larger currents of U.S.–China relations. The exile institutions endure: the Central Tibetan Administration, headquartered in Dharamshala, India, maintains a parliament, a Kashag cabinet and a supreme justice commission, and runs schools and settlements for well over a hundred thousand exiled Tibetans in India, Nepal and elsewhere. In 2011 the Fourteenth Dalai Lama devolved his political authority to an elected leader, ending the tradition of combined religious and political rule; both of his successors as Sikyong (Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering) have been directly elected by Tibetans in exile. The Dalai Lama is now elderly, and his reincarnation has become the new focal point of dispute between Beijing and the exiles: the generation that fled in 1959 is passing away, while the system they fled still claims the right to decide who their next spiritual leader will be.

Videos

"Dictators Files": The Tibet Uprising (1959) — Mao's Bloody Conquest. Drawing on scholars Tsering Shakya, Melvyn Goldstein and others: the shelling of Lhasa, the Norbulingka siege, and the Dalai Lama's escape.

"The Day Tibet Rose Up Against China": On March 10, 1959, thousands gathered in Lhasa to protect the Dalai Lama — how it became one of the most tragic moments in Tibetan history.

Related images (external links)

• Potala Palace image category — Wikimedia Commons (historical and current photos, mostly CC-licensed)
• 14th Dalai Lama image category — Wikimedia Commons (some public-domain historical photos)
• Norbulingka image category — Wikimedia Commons