In 1966, "cultural revolution" was launched throughout China, Tibet included. Like other parts of the country, Tibet suffered from the "Leftist" ideological thinking. Such a chaotic situation lasted until October 1976, when the reactionary "gang of four" was toppled and the 10-year-long turmoil was terminated. This was followed by the convocation of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Party Central Committee. From then on, China entered a new phase of reform and opening up. Accordingly, the system of national regional autonomy began to be implemented to the center in areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities.
　　In 1981, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Party Central Committee passed the Resolution on Certain Historical Problems of the Communist Party of China Since the Foundation of the People's Republic of China, which pointed out, "It is imperative to practice resolutely national regional autonomy, to enforce the legal construction for regional autonomy, and to guarantee the autonomous rights of regions of ethnic minorities for implementing the policies of the Communist Party of China and the State while taking their practical situation into consideration."
　　The Constitution promulgated in 1982 not only reaffirmed some important principles for the national regional autonomy as stated in the Constitution promulgated in 1954, but also covered new issues drawn from both positive and negative experiences in practicing regional autonomy in the previous three decades. The 1982 Constitution stipulates: The chairman or vice-chairman of the standing committee of the People's Congress of an autonomous region should be local citizen. Head of the autonomous region, prefecture or county should be local citizen too. In areas where the national regional autonomy is practiced, deputies to local People's Congress should in-dude citizens of the ethnic groups practicing regional autonomy and an appropriate number of citizens of other ethnic groups living in these areas. The Constitution also rules that the State shall help the minority areas speed up local economic and cultural development, and train cadres, especially specialized personnel and skilled workers of various professions and trades from among the ethnic group or groups in those areas. The Constitution also provides definite stipulation in the fields of economic construction, finance, education, sciences, culture, health care, sports and the use of languages of ethnic groups.
The Law on the National Regional Autonomy of the People's Republic of China enacted in 1984 is subordinate only to the Constitution in this regard. It offered a legal guarantee for the practice of national regional autonomy in certain minority areas.
In accordance with the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Law of the National Regional Autonomy in the People's Republic of China, Tibet follows the system of the national regional autonomy. Power organs were established for this purpose. Serfs and slaves who lived at the bottom of the Tibetan society won emancipation, and became masters of their own fate. They fully enjoy the democratic right of making decisions for themselves. Many of them have become leaders at various levels.
　　Since the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the four chairmen of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the five chairmen of the Tibet Autonomous Region have been Tibetans. Statistics show that people from Tibetan and other ethnic minorities account for 71.4 percent of the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and 8() percent of the members of the Standing Committee, and 77.8 percent of thc chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Autonomous Region. As a result of the elections at township, county, prefectural (municipal) and regional levels in 1993, Tibetans and people from other ethnic minorities accounted for 93.2 percent of the staff' in State organs at the four levels, and 99.8 percent of township heads and 98.6 percent of county
heads. In addition, they also accounted for 96 percent of the presidents of the people's courts and procurators-generals of the people's procuratorates at regional, prefectural (municipal) and county levels. According to 1996 statistics, cadres from the Tibetan and other ethnic minorities accounted for 73.8s percent of the total in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
　　The People's Congresses set up at various levels constitute the fundamental guarantee for Tibetans and other ethnic minorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region to exercise autonomous rights. The People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region is the legal institution for Tibet to practice regional autonomy and for people of Tibetans and other ethnic nationalities in the region to enjoy their democratic rights. In accordance with the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Autonomy, areas which practice national regional autonomy shall function like power organs at the same level, and enjoy the rights of managing their own affairs in the political, economic, cultural and social field.
　　The practice of national regional autonomy has guaranteed the political rights of the people in Tibet. All citizens in Tibet aged I 8 or above enjoys the right to vote and the right to stand for election regardless of nationality, race, sex, occupation, family origin, religious belief education, possession or length of residence. They elect their own representatives, and set up people's congresses at each level, to exercise the right of managing state and local affairs. During the elections at the township, county, prefectural (municipal) and autonomous regional levels in 1993 in Tibet, there were a total of 1,311,085 eligible voters, accounting for98.6 percent of the population over the age of I 8. Of this number, 91.percent took part overall, although he percentage reached 100 in some areas.
　　As the staff of the power organs in the autonomous region, deputies to he people's congress at various 1evels in Tibet have seen elected six times in the past 30 sears. After the elections of the people's congresses in 1993, in Tibet there were 450 deputies elected to the regional people's congress. 2,220 to the prefectural (municipal) people's congresses, 6,411 to the county people's congresses and 3 I 650 to the township people's congresses.
Of the deputies to the people's congresses at the regional and prefectural (municipal) levels, over 80 percent are of Tibetan or other ethnic minorities, and the percentage rises to over 90 percent at county and township levels. Even though some ethnic minorities, such as Moinba and Lhoba, have an extremely small population, they still have their own deputies to the PRC National People's Congress and to the people's congresses at various levels in Tibet. Such a composition fully displays the principle of equality among all nationalities in China.

　　Since the First People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region, deputies to the People's Congress have put forward nearly 4,000 notions concerning principles and policies, fully conveying the wishes and requirements of the people from all ethnic groups.
　　In July 1987, the Fifth Session of the Fourth People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region listened to the Suggestions on Learning, Using and Developing the Tibetan Writing in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Suggestions, put forward by Ngapoi Ngawang Jigmei and the 10th Panchen Erdeni, pointed out that to learn, use and develop the Tibetan writing, is related to scientifically researching, handing down and developing the excellent cultural traditions of Tibet, to fully exercising the autonomous rights of the Tibetan people as authorized by the PRC Constitution, and to the improvement of the Tibetans' scientific and cultural qualities and to the development and progress of all Tibetans. The deputies present at the session carefully discussed the Suggestions, and passed by consensus Regulations Concerning Learning, Using and Developing the Tibetan Writing in the Tibet Autonomous Region. 　　According to the Regulations, the Tibetan and Chinese languages are of equal importance, with the Tibetan language occupying the major position. The Tibetan language is a standard language throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region, and all resolutions, regulations and statutes passed by the People's Congress and the formal documents and announcements of government at various levels should be written in both the Tibetan language and Chinese during legal activities, if one party to the court proceedings is Tibetan, the case will be heard in the Tibetan language, and all the legal documents accordingly will be written in the Tibetan language; all the radio and TV programs and newspapers will use both the Tibetan language and Chinese, and the State organs. roads and infrastructure will be marked by both the Chinese and Tibetan languages. Any Tibetans doing academic. cultural and artistic work are authorized to write or publish their works in the Tibetan language. After being promulgated, the Regulations were cordially supported and warmly embraced by the Tibetan people, and the work for learning, using and developing the Tibetan language gained momentum.
　　Deputies to the people's congresses at various levels also put forward a lot of proposals and suggestions for promoting the excellent cultural traditions of ethnic groups. During the First Session of the Fourth People",: Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region held in 1983, the deputies raised 51 proposals and suggestions in this regard, accounting for 21.4 percent of the total. In 1985, some deputies put forward the Proposal for Establishing a Tibetan Library and the Pmposal for Establishing the School for Tibetan Medicine. In 1987, some deputies proposed to further repair the tombs of Tibetan kings. The related departments of the people's government of the Tibet Autonomous Region paid great attention to these ideas and all have been adopted.
　　The autonomy of various power organs in the autonomous regions finds expression in their legislative power. The PRC Constitution stipulates. "The People's Congress of an autonomous region has the power to enact regulations on the exercise of autonomy and other separate regulations in light of the political, economic, and cultural characteristics of the ethnic group or groups in the area concerned ."In addition. a wide range of PRC laws. such as the Marriage Law. Law of Inheritance. Criminal Law, General Rules of the Civil Law. Law of Civil Procedure. Forest Law, Law of Adoption. also grant special rights to the People's Congress and its Standing Committee in autonomous regions to make appropriate substitute or supplementary regulations by observing the basic principles of the laws and the practical situations in these regions. In other words, in accordance with the Constitution and other laws of the State, the Tibet Autonomous Region enjoys not only the power to enact rules and regulations as various ordinary administrative regions enjoy. but also the power to enact regulations for self-government in the autonomous regions. So, autonomous regions claim double legislative power. Since such regulations contain stipulations which are a change of clauses of the basic laws, they are next only to the Constitution, but higher than local regulations in legal effect.
Incomplete statistics show, since the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965, the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region and its Standing Committee has promulgated over 80 local regulations and decisions with legal effect, covering the construction of political power, economic development, culture and education. Language, judicature, protection of cultural relics, and protection of wild life. They include the Regulations on Environmental Protection in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Working regulations of People's Congress at Township and County Levels n the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Rules for Enforcing the Checking and Supervision of the Implementation of Laws and Regulations. They offer a legal guarantee for speeding up the construction of a new Tibet. In addition to holidays enjoyed in the other parts of China, the Tibetans also celebrate the Tibetan New Year, the Shoton (Sour Milk Drinking) Festival and some other traditional festivals. Out of consideration for the special geographical factors in Tibet, the autonomous region decides laborers' work time at 35 hours per week, five hours less than the legal standard for the other parts of China. The Central People's Government also decided that with the prerequisite of observing the Constitution and safeguarding the unification of the motherland and national unity, the Tibet Autonomous Region is authorized to be flexible in carrying out some related laws and regulations of the country by taking the practical situation of Tibet into consideration. Such a privilege is not granted to other autonomous regions let alone provinces and municipalities directly under the Central People's Government.
　　For example, on April 18,1981, the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the Third People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region adopted the Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Accommodation of the PRC Marriage Law. According to the Regulations, the basic principles of the Marriage Law be followed to promote freedom of marriage and monogamy, and the old customs of polyandry and polygamy be abolished. In the meantime, bearing in mind that such customs still prevail among a certain proportion of Tibetans, the Regulations allow such marriages to continue if they took place before the Regulations came into effect, so long as all the parties involved wish it. In practice, few Tibetans now prefer to follow the traditional customs, having been educated and persuaded to monogamy. However, the continuation of the old style marriage customs will not incur a bigamy charge. This is another important point in Tibet, differing from other parts of China .The Regulation have not only safe guarded the serious. nature of the Mar riage Law, by in sisting on the principles of freedom of marriage and monogamy and abolishing feuda marriages, but ha, also taken into con sideration historical facts and the customs of a certain part of the local population.
　　In old Tibet the vast number of serfs and slaves were deprived of personal freedom and basic human rights. The fate of women was the more miserable. According to the 13-Article Code and the 16-Article Code, which were in force in Tibet over 1,000 years until 1951, Tibetans were divided into nine ranks of three classes, with women listed into the lowest rank in the lowest class. They stated clearly, "The life value of people in the lowest ranks of the low class, such as women, butchers, hunters, blacksmiths, is worth one piece of grass rope." Other laws banned slaves and women in participating in political and military affairs."
　　The situation lasted until the founding of New China in 1949, the Democratic Reform in 1959 in Tibet. The people's government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has enacted over 10 varieties of rules and regulations for the protection of the legal rights and interests of women. Like women of other ethnic groups throughout China, female Tibetans enjoy full democratic rights equal to males. They include political rights the right of receiving education, labor rights, the right of property possession, personal rights, and marriage and family rights. According to 1996 statistics, 20 percent of the deputies to the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region were female and there were 573 female officials at and above county level in Tibet. For the first time in Tibetan history, there were female Tibetan judges, procurators, police, lawyers, entrepreneur and scientists, and some Tibetan girls studying in foreign countries.