aditional Tibetan was not paid and provided services in exchange for his food. The relationship between landlords and peasants was humane. Workers could provide services when convenient, since they usually lived on the lands. But as a result of the Chinese policies, workers were dispatched where needed, regardless of the distance they had to walk. They began to be paid and food was supplied in rations. Needless to say that wages were a way for the Chinese government to repress Tibetan people, since any disobedience was deducted from their pay. WelfareFamine and starvation were unheard of in independent Tibet, since people could borrow grain from the buffer stock, held by the district administrations, monasteries, aristocrats, and rich farmers. These reserves were stored in case of food shortage and served as emergency welfare. However, as said above, the Chinese authority largely used them to feed themselves and eventually totally confiscated it. V. CONCLUSIONAlthough the traditional Tibetan feudal system seemed archaic to the Chinese who wanted to modernize the country and make it benefit from communism, it was in harmony with their environment. Resources were limited, but famine was unheard of. The Chinese invasion of 1950, their massive settlement, and their lack of knowledge about the environment ruined the fragile ecosystem of the country. Furthermore in their urge to capitalize Tibetan resources they created serious environmental problems and polluted eastern Tibet. The reforms in land tenure were indeed to benefit the colonizers who ended up with the best properties. Tibetan peasants were assigned to communal lands, which were merely labor camps. In addition, the sudden switch from subsistence agriculture to cash cropping gave no results and the restrictions imposed on nomadic herders resulted in the loss of livestock. The desire of the Chinese to get rid of the Tibetan people led to unequal food distribution, as we...
