New days on the roof of the world | Education gives former serf a new lease on life

Puciren, 82, has always remembered the first Chinese character he learned— ren, meaning people. Under the feudal serfdom of old Xizang, he was nothing more than an object attached to a lord, one that could be disposed of at will. After the peaceful liberation of Xizang, he stepped into the school he had long dreamed of, where he learned to read, studied English and computers, and later became a moral education counselor at a primary school.

From having no access to education to embracing a culture of learning, and from an illiteracy rate of over 95 percent to the full implementation of 15-year publicly funded education, about 1 million former serfs have stood up with dignity and become people who stand tall.