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In 1980, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok founded the Larung Buddhist academy in the Larung valley of Sertar county, Sichuan. Over the decades it grew into one of the world's largest Tibetan Buddhist institutes: a valley packed with red wooden cabins, home at its peak to some 10,000 resident monks and nuns, Tibetan and Han Chinese alike, studying and debating scriptures. (Sources: BBC, July 22, 2016; U.S. State Department 2016 International Religious Freedom Report; TCHRD; ICT) In June 2016, a "correction and rectification" work plan landed on Sertar county: the resident population would be cut from about 10,000 to 5,000 — 3,500 nuns and 1,500 monks; the cabins of the expelled would be demolished, along with buildings like the old-age home and the nuns' guesthouse; 1,200 people expelled and 1,500 cabins demolished by October 30, 2016, full compliance by September 30, 2017. (Sources: TCHRD's June 15, 2016 disclosure of the document's key points; Human Rights Watch, June 9, 2016) A local party official explained: the rectification was about "safety, easing overcrowding, fire prevention." (Source: Free Tibet, citing Garze news)

The night before the bulldozers moved in, tragedy struck. On July 19, 2016, two nuns — Tsering Dolma and Semgha — hanged themselves in the Pema Khando nunnery district. Tsering Dolma left a note, roughly: the government grants no religious freedom; even small huts are being demolished; death is better than living. (Source: TCHRD report, July 20, 2026) The day after the demolitions began (July 20), the demolition crews started on the nunnery district. A European Parliament resolution recorded "at least 3 nuns committing suicide in protest"; Human Rights Watch's September 13, 2016 report likewise noted 3 suicides triggered by the demolitions. (Sources: European Parliament resolution, December 15, 2016; Human Rights Watch)

Demolition formally began on July 20, 2016. The European Parliament's resolution records the date; Free Tibet released footage of bulldozers flattening the wooden cabins; some 1,500 police and armed police took part in the expulsions. (Sources: European Parliament press release; Free Tibet; U.S. State Department 2016 IRF Report) Expelled monks and nuns were forced to sign written pledges with fingerprints: promising to leave "voluntarily," "solemnly pledging never to return to the Larung Buddhist Academy of Sertar County," and vowing patriotism, law-abiding conduct and no activity opposing government policy. (Sources: ICT's November 2016 publication of the pledge's Chinese text; Free Tibet/Tibet Watch's 2017 Destroying Heaven report; Human Rights Watch via AFP) On October 30, 2016, large numbers of monks and nuns were bussed back to their places of origin.

The international response came quickly. Human Rights Watch's September 13, 2016 report: at least 1,000 people forced to leave, 3 suicides; in March 2017 it demanded a halt to expulsions and political re-education, also condemning nuns being forced to perform on stage in monastic robes as a violation of religious freedom and degrading treatment. (Source: Human Rights Watch) On December 15, 2016, the European Parliament adopted an urgency resolution urging a halt to demolitions and expulsions and compensation and resettlement for the expelled. (Source: European Parliament website) Six UN special rapporteurs wrote to the Chinese government on November 7, 2016 (AL CHN 10/2016) and issued a rare joint public statement on February 24, 2017, expressing "serious concern" over "severe restrictions" on religious freedom at Larung Gar and Yachen Gar — six experts co-signing is uncommon in the UN system. (Sources: The New York Times, February 27, 2017; CTA) The U.S. State Department's 2016, 2017 and 2018 International Religious Freedom Reports all documented the Larung Gar expulsions and demolitions in their Tibet chapters.

Demolitions continued into 2017. After a winter pause they resumed in March 2017, with 3,225 more cabins slated for removal by the end of April. By the end of May 2017, 4,725 cabins had been demolished and 4,828 monks and nuns expelled. (Sources: TCHRD, July 20, 2026; RFA citing a senior khenpo) The State Department's 2017 report used different figures: some 9,000 expelled from a baseline of at least 20,000, about 4,000 dwellings demolished — different methodologies and timeframes, presented here side by side rather than merged. (Source: U.S. 2017 IRF Report via ICT) Meanwhile the academy underwent "separation of monastery and institute": it became a county-level public institution directly under Garze prefecture, run under "the dean-responsibility system led by the CCP committee of the Sertar Larung Buddhist Academy," with a cadre as dean — party members replacing traditional monastic self-governance. (Sources: Chinese Wikipedia citing the separation plan's information card; TCHRD's 2026 report)

Demolition had another target: tourism. The International Campaign for Tibet's 2019 report Shadow of Dust Across the Sun argued the demolitions aimed to remake the academy as a tourist destination — six companies held multiple planning meetings toward that end; local sources said the clearances made way for tourism infrastructure and were also meant to stop outsiders, especially Han Chinese monks and nuns, from coming to study. (Sources: ICT; U.S. 2016/2017/2018 IRF Reports; RFA) From April 2019, the academy stopped admitting new students, built perimeter walls and set up three checkpoints. (Source: RFA via globalsecurity)

Pressure escalated again after 2024. On December 20, 2024, some 400 soldiers, officials and police moved into the academy, with helicopters monitoring from above; plans called for capping stays at 15 years from 2025, mandatory registration, and Han Chinese students told to leave. (Sources: RFA, December 2024; CTA) In February 2025, RFA reported another 1,000+ monks and nuns expelled, cutting numbers from 6,000 to 5,000. (Source: RFA, February 13, 2025) From July 13, 2026, a new demolition round began targeting at least 1,060 cabins, initially carried out at night to evade documentation; affected monastics were ordered back to their home monasteries or families. This round came just after the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law took effect on July 1. (Sources: ICT, July 2026; TCHRD, July 20, 2026; Bitter Winter, August 2026) Note: the 2026 round rests on Tibetan-area sources with no independent imagery or satellite confirmation — stated here as found.

The "separation of monastery and institute" at Larung deserves unpacking. After the 2016 rectification, the academy was no longer a monastery in the traditional sense but a "county-level Category-I public institution" directly under Garze prefecture — a government unit. Its 21-member administrative committee holds 11 religious figures and 11 cadres; the dean is a cadre, under a "dean-responsibility system led by the Party committee." (Source: Chinese Wikipedia citing the separation plan's information card) Translation: the era of monasteries governing themselves is over; the Party governs the monastery now. TCHRD's 2026 report says CCP members have replaced traditional monastic self-governance. This isn't just Larung's story — it's the template for monastery management across Tibetan areas.

The pledge's text is revealing. ICT published the Chinese original in November 2016: expelled monks and nuns filled in their names and ID numbers and pressed fingerprints, "solemnly pledging" to leave voluntarily and never return to the Larung Buddhist Academy of Sertar County (except for major dharma assemblies with paperwork), plus vows of patriotism, law-abiding conduct, and upholding ethnic unity and social stability. (Sources: ICT; Free Tibet/Tibet Watch's Destroying Heaven) The word "voluntarily" is the point — everyone knew it wasn't voluntary, but everyone signed and fingerprinted. This kind of "voluntary" means "volunteered by force."

In August 2017, TCHRD published an "undercover" report. An investigator entered Larung in disguise and found the academy sliced apart by newly built roads and staircases — "like a melon cut open." (Source: TCHRD, August 11, 2017) Roads in, checkpoints up, tour buses rolling in — a religious community remade as a scenic attraction, monks and nuns turned into part of the "sights." ICT's 2019 report put it more bluntly: six companies held multiple planning meetings for tourism development; the demolitions were clearing the way for tourism infrastructure. (Source: ICT's Shadow of Dust) At its peak the academy housed some 10,000 resident monastics, many of them Han Chinese who had traveled vast distances to study; local sources say another purpose of the demolitions was to stop outsiders — especially Han Chinese — from coming. (Sources: ICT; RFA)

The timing of the 2026 round is pointed. On July 1, the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law took effect; on July 13, the new demolition round began, targeting at least 1,060 cabins, initially carried out at night. (Sources: ICT, July 2026; TCHRD, July 20, 2026; Bitter Winter, August 2026) Official propaganda sells the law as "promoting ethnic unity," but in Tibetan areas it has become the sword of a new control drive. The December 2024 deployment — some 400 soldiers, officials and police moving in, helicopters circling overhead — is not something "fire-safety rectification" can explain. (Sources: RFA, December 2024; CTA) The official line in July 2026 was still "safety hazards, overcrowded housing" (source: via Tibet Times) — word for word the same as 2016.

In August 2016, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) held candlelight vigils in Dharamshala and protested outside Chinese consulates in Toronto and New York. (Source: Tibet Express) Those protests changed nothing. But the documentation matters in itself: TCHRD's undercover report, Free Tibet's footage, ICT's published pledge text, the European Parliament's resolution, the UN experts' joint statement — a decade on, the chain of evidence keeps growing. Larung's red cabins can be flattened by bulldozers, but every scoop is on the record. As of October 2026, the demolitions continue.

The June 2016 rectification plan's numbers bear a second look: expulsion lists due by June 15, 2016; 1,200 people expelled and 1,500 cabins demolished by October 30; the resident population squeezed to 5,000 by September 30, 2017. (Source: TCHRD, June 15, 2016) The 2016 quota was 2,200 expulsions, including 1,029 lay practitioners — with 600 required to come from outside the province. Even the "outsider" quota was set. (Source: TCHRD) This wasn't "fire-safety rectification." It was demographic engineering: compressing a 10,000-strong academy precisely in half, and driving out the "outsiders."

The official description of post-2016 Larung is "demolition and simplified renovation": improved fire lanes, tourist thoroughfares, drainage and water supply, plus a new vegetable market, bathhouse and restaurants. (Source: Chinese Wikipedia) In 2026, self-media testers reported daily visitor caps — 1,000 to 1,200 in summer, 3,200 in September — a 200-yuan deposit at the gate, and a 90-minute time limit. (Source: Sina Travel self-media articles, August–September 2026; single source — unverified) Whatever the exact figures, the direction is clear: the academy has become a scenic spot, pilgrimage turned into tourism. The bulldozers took down wooden cabins; the caps and deposits are taking down practice itself.

The 2016 rectification order had another line: of the expelled monastics, 600 had to come from outside the province. (Source: TCHRD) At its peak, Larung had a large Han Chinese monastic population — people who quit jobs and sold homes to travel vast distances to Sertar to study. The order's targeting of "outsiders" was aimed at them. A Sichuan Buddhist academy, barring outsiders from coming to study the dharma — the "law" in "rectification according to law" governs household registration, not the dharma.

The new demolition round that began July 13, 2026 initially worked only at night. (Sources: ICT, July 2026; Bitter Winter, August 2026) Why fear daylight? Because daylight means cameras. Free Tibet's July 2016 footage showed the world the bulldozers; a decade later the crews have learned — night operations instead. But word still got out, in TCHRD, ICT and Bitter Winter reports one after another. Night can block the cameras; it can't block the news.

Yachen Gar is Larung's fellow sufferer. While Larung was being "rectified" in 2016, Yachen Gar in Baiyu county faced similar demolitions and expulsions; the six UN experts' joint statement named "Larung Gar and Yachen Gar." (Source: The New York Times, February 27, 2017) Monastery rectification in Tibetan areas was never about one monastery — it was a template: cap the numbers, demolish the housing, sign the pledges, Party-committee leadership. Larung was the biggest, so it became the emblem.

From 2016 to 2026, a decade on, more than half of Larung's red cabins are gone; those who remain live under registration, visitor caps, checkpoints and party-committee leadership. The UN experts' concern, the European Parliament's resolution, the State Department's year-after-year documentation — none of it stopped the bulldozers. As of October 2026, the new demolition round continues, with no public record of a Chinese reply to the UN experts' letter — no public developments to report.

Push the timeline back, and 2016 was not the first time. When the academy was founded in June 1980, the Larung valley held just 32 students with Jigme Phuntsok as sole khenpo; it was formally approved by the Sertar county government in 1985, received its name in calligraphy from the 10th Panchen Lama in 1987, and its academy name from Buddhist Association of China president Zhao Puchu in 1993. (Source: Chinese Wikipedia, Sertar Larung academy entry) By 1998 it had some 4,500 nuns, 4,000 monks and nearly 1,000 Han Chinese students. (Source: ICT figures) A mountain academy that grew into "the world's largest Tibetan Buddhist institute" did so not on administrative budgets but on red wooden cabins the students built themselves — and therein lay the seed of every later conflict: more than ten thousand people gathered spontaneously to study Buddhism, on no official roster.

The first large-scale rectification came in 2001. From April 2000, monks and nuns were subjected to political re-education; the authorities pressed Jigme Phuntsok to publicly denounce the Dalai Lama, and he refused. In 2001 the demolitions began: according to ICT and research cited by English Wikipedia, some 8,000 students and residents were evicted and about 4,000 buildings demolished, with the academy's population ordered cut to within 1,400. (Sources: ICT; English Wikipedia's Larung Gar entry citing Tibet Watch/Free Tibet reports; figures as reported at the time) Jigme Phuntsok himself was taken to Chengdu for "medical treatment" under effective house arrest; his health declined thereafter, and he passed away in Chengdu in January 2004. (Sources: public reporting; TCHRD) Further evictions followed in 2002 and 2013 — in 2013 some monks and nuns were arrested and sentenced to one to six years — and in 2015 another roughly 1,000 people were expelled, including elderly monastics. (Sources: Tibet Watch/Free Tibet joint report; English Wikipedia) Understand 2001 and 2016 reads clearly: the same script — first demand a denunciation of the Dalai Lama, then demolish and expel in the name of rectification — only fifteen years later the scale was larger, the documents finer, the quotas more precise.

On where the expelled went, the main text records the bussing back to home regions; here is the institutional complement. In May 2017, the Sertar county government built "resettlement sites for persuaded-to-leave nuns" at Shamargou and Qilianggou in Luoruo township, constructed by a Huaxi Group subsidiary and opened in September 2018, specifically to house expelled nuns. (Source: Chinese Wikipedia citing Sertar county public materials) Some nuns were arranged to continue their practice at Yachen Gar in Baiyu county. (Source: Chinese Wikipedia) The other side of the word "resettlement": leaving the cabin one built by hand, leaving one's teachers and practice community, moving into a government-built compound — practice henceforth under registration and management. Expelled monastics returned home generally faced registration, police "talks" and activity restrictions by their home-region authorities, with many reportedly ordered never to return to Tibetan-area academies. (Source: Free Tibet/Tibet Watch, Destroying Heaven)

The chain of execution should also be stated plainly. This case has no courtroom and no judgment: every action was carried out by the administrative system — the rectification plan issued and executed at Sertar county level, supervised by Garze prefecture and Sichuan provincial religious-affairs and united-front organs, with police and armed police conducting on-site expulsions, work teams stationed in the academy registering households and setting departure deadlines, and the transport system bussing people out in batches. On August 28, 2017, the "Management Committee of the Sertar Larung Buddhist Academy and Larung Monastery" was inaugurated and the separation of academy and monastery took effect — from that day, the academy's personnel, admissions and finances were no longer the monastic community's to decide. (Source: Chinese Wikipedia citing the separation plan) No link in this chain passed through any judicial process: whose home was demolished and who was expelled was decided by a work plan, not by a court judgment.

After Jigme Phuntsok's passing, teaching was carried on by Khenpo Sodargye, Mumtso and others. Sodargye's lectures and Chinese-language writings gave Larung a large lay following in Han Chinese regions — one reason the academy drew so many Han students. The rectification quotas specifically listed "students from outside the province" for removal, targeting precisely this channel of study between Han and Tibetan Buddhists. Looking back from 2026: 4,000 dwellings demolished in 2001, another 4,725 in 2016, a new round opened in 2026 — in twenty-five years, the bulldozers never really left the Larung valley.

Larung's teaching system is another key to its draw. Following Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the academy taught exoteric and esoteric curricula — students began with grammar and logic and proceeded through the five great treatises, on a standard course of about six years and up to twelve for advanced study, with graduates awarded the khenpo (male) or khenmo (female) degree, among the highest scholastic titles in Tibetan Buddhism. (Source: Chinese Wikipedia, Sertar Larung academy entry) Nuns formed the majority of residents and could complete the full esoteric curriculum — uncommon in traditional Tibetan areas, and part of Larung's special significance for women practitioners. When the 2016 quota cut the population to 5,000 — 3,500 places for nuns, 1,500 for monks — the demolished dwellings were also concentrated in the nuns' districts. (Source: English Wikipedia citing Tibet Watch figures: as counted by December 2016, the vast majority of demolished buildings were nuns' residences) On whom the rectification fell, the numbers state plainly.

How evidence was preserved matters especially in this case, because the site was effectively closed to foreign journalists. Free Tibet and Tibet Watch researchers relied on phone footage smuggled out by students, before-and-after comparisons of commercial satellite imagery, and undercover investigation to piece together the demolition's progress; much of the data cited in the European Parliament's resolution and the UN experts' letters came through this chain of evidence. (Sources: Free Tibet/Tibet Watch, Destroying Heaven; European Parliament resolution, December 15, 2016) The 2026 round's shift to night work targets precisely this chain's weakest link — only what can be seen can be recorded, and only what is recorded can be questioned.

• 1980 — Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok founds the Larung Buddhist academy (BBC, July 22, 2016; TCHRD; U.S. 2016 IRF Report).
• June 1980 / 1985 / 1987 — Founded with just 32 students; county approval in 1985; academy name inscribed by the 10th Panchen Lama in 1987 (Chinese Wikipedia).
• April 2000 – 2001 — Political re-education and the first mass demolition round: ~8,000 evicted, ~4,000 buildings demolished (ICT; English Wikipedia citing Tibet Watch/Free Tibet).
• January 2004 — Founder Jigme Phuntsok passes away in Chengdu, having been taken from the academy for "medical treatment" (public reporting; TCHRD).
• 2013 / 2015 — Further evictions and arrests with sentences of 1–6 years; ~1,000 expelled in 2015, including elderly monastics (Tibet Watch/Free Tibet).
• August 28, 2017 — The academy–monastery separation management committee is inaugurated; personnel and admissions leave monastic self-governance (Chinese Wikipedia citing the separation plan).
• September 2018 — Resettlement sites for expelled nuns open at Shamargou and Qilianggou (Chinese Wikipedia citing Sertar county materials).
• Early June 2016 — Sertar county issues the rectification plan: cap of 5,000 (3,500 nuns + 1,500 monks); 1,200 expelled and 1,500 cabins demolished by Oct 30, 2016; full compliance by Sept 30, 2017 (TCHRD, June 15, 2016; HRW, June 9, 2016).
• July 19, 2016 — Nuns Tsering Dolma and Semgha hang themselves in the nunnery district (TCHRD, July 20, 2026).
• July 20, 2016 — Demolition begins; bulldozers move in; Free Tibet releases footage (European Parliament resolution; Free Tibet; BBC).
• September 13, 2016 — Human Rights Watch: at least 1,000 forced to leave, 3 suicides.
• October 30, 2016 — Mass bussing of monks and nuns; ICT publishes the "never return" pledge's Chinese text.
• November 7, 2016 — Six UN special rapporteurs write to the Chinese government (AL CHN 10/2016).
• December 15, 2016 — European Parliament adopts urgency resolution condemning the demolitions (European Parliament; ICT).
• February 24, 2017 — Six UN experts issue a joint public statement (The New York Times, Feb 27, 2017).
• March–May 2017 — Demolitions resume; by end of May, 4,725 cabins demolished, 4,828 expelled (TCHRD; RFA).
• August 2017 — TCHRD undercover report: the academy sliced by new roads and staircases "like a melon."
• 2019 — ICT's Shadow of Dust report: demolitions serve tourism development.
• April 2019 — New admissions halted; walls built; three checkpoints set up (RFA).
• December 20, 2024 — ~400 soldiers/officials/police move in; helicopter surveillance (RFA; CTA).
• February 13, 2025 — RFA: 1,000+ more monks and nuns expelled (6,000 → 5,000).
• July 13, 2026 — New demolition round begins: at least 1,060 cabins, night operations (ICT; TCHRD, July 20, 2026; Bitter Winter).