The Tibetan race favored marriage on the basis of both class and blood relationship. Marriage on the basis of class was the product of class oppression in old Tibet which followed feudal serfdom. It disappeared with the establishment of the socialist system. Although such a marriage system is still fresh in the minds of many Tibetans, it is collapsing. In Bangjor Lhunbo village, there are two families of a manorial lord and blacksmith, still following the old marriage system. Their children, however, study in schools together with children of other classes. They are highly likely to discard the marriage system in the future. In the village today, there is no visible demarcation line between ex-tralpa serfs and exnangzen slaves. Young people enjoy freedom to marry whom they want.

　　From Table 5, we see free marriage making up 70.8 percent of the total. Actually, Tibetans respect the will of the people concerned in marriage, with freedom in love being the social traditional. Even when people get married according to the will of their parents, the couple still have to agree to the marriage. In old Tibet, the manorial lord and rich tralpa serfs followed the form of marriage according to parents' will and through match-makers. This shows society's interference in individual affairs. Marriage proceeded, firstly, out of family interest and, secondly, taking into consideration individual will. So far as ordinary serf families were concerned, marriage proceeded, firstly, according to individual will and, secondly, out of family interest. The two kinds of marriage took place within the same class. Today, when such a class system no longer exists, the Tibetan tradition of freedom in love has revived as the main trend in Tibetan rural areas. Those who favor marriage according to their parents' will or through match-makers belong to a small number of rich families wishing to maintain their family economic might, or people seeking remarriage, those of a mature age or of an introverted temperament.

　　Free marriage leads to the marriage age being postponed in Bangjor Lhunbo village, with many young people remaining unmarried even though well over the traditional marriage age. Before the Democratic Reform, some in the village married when they were well under 20 years of age, while many got married after reaching that stage. Today, many young people get married when they have become "old" in terms of the traditional marriage age. In the village, there are still 13 people who, though 25 or older, are not yet married, comprising three men and
10 women. No wonder a folk song goes: "Girls from Bangjor Lhunbo village have difficulty getting married".

　　The old tend to think this has something to do with two factors: First, the young have higher demands on marriage quality; second, modern contraceptive methods pose a devastating challenge to the old marital process characteristic of engaging in love-trial marriage-becoming pregnant-getting married. In the past, when people engaged in a trial marriage, they were inevitably prone to an early pregnancy, thus becoming natural spouses. Today, however, trial marriage is prolonged as contraceptives are readily available. As a matter of fact, there is a third reason: Bangjor Lhunbo village has become so developed economically that many village natives hate to be married outside the community and risk a lower standard of living.

　　Free marriage produces families with comparatively poor stability. The above table shows that of the 113 married people, 77 percent belong to the first marriage group; 10 are divorced with five of them having remarried. According to our investigation, there are people who divorced four times and remarried five times. Of the widows/widowers, two have remarried, but 10 have not. Most of these are old. There are also four women who conceived and became mothers outside marriage (another one later married and is not included). For various reasons, they have not been able to marry their lovers: Gedain Sangino, the aforementioned nangzen slave, was prevented from marrying under feudal serfdom; a middle-aged woman, who became pregnant when taking part in road repair work, was not married because her lover disappeared; two other young women failed to win the affection of their lovers. Of the five who divorced and have not remarried, the main reason appears to be that, as their spouse had committed adultery, they lost confidence in remarrying. As a result, the divorce rate is 8.8 percent in Bangjor Lhunbo village. However, the whole village respects individual will in marriage and everyone is very lenient toward trial marriage or divorce. And illegitimate children are not discriminated against.

　　Free marriage in Bangjor Lhunbo village also shows considerable equality in terms of the marital home. Of 48 couples surveyed, 22 couples (45.8 percent) involved the wives marrying into the home of their husbands; 24 couples (50 percent) involved the husbands marrying into the home of their wives; the remaining two couples remained independent. In large families, most have the sons-in-law living with the wives' families. A survey of 16 families shows 11 households following this style, while the five others involved the daughters-in-law living with their husbands' families. The older generation explain this by saying that daughters are very obedient, so it is nicer to live with them than with daughters-in-law.
The above table clearly shows with whom the married women live after marriage. In "others" the figure "1" refers to a childless old lady who receives guaranteed food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses from the local government, and so lives independently.

　　A survey of 60 married women (excluding three mothers who have no husbands), shows the following trend in intermarriage:
The table shows the rate of intermarriage within Gyangze County is the highest, followed by the rate "inside the township", "inside the village", "inside the region" and "inside Tibet". Given the fact of poor economic development, the local people tend to favor intermarriage with non-blood-relations mainly within the country or township. With the disappearance of the traditional natural economy, the scope of intermarriage is expanding along with the expanding scope of social
intercourse, reaching 11.67 percent for "inside the region and Tibet." The rate of intermarriage within Bangjor Lhunbo village (23.33, ranldng third in the table) is higher than other villages in Tibet, mainly because 75 percent of the villagers were nangzen slaves in old Tibet. With the smashing of the strata alongside changes in social system, ex-nangzen slaves and ex-tralpa slaves gained freedom in marriage.

　　The former practice of freedom in love, trial marriage and marriage leads people in Bangjor Lhunbo Village to have little interest in a wedding ceremony. A survey of the married women shows only 42 percent held a traditional wedding ceremony, with the middle-aged favoring a simple wedding rite; 58 percent held no wedding ceremony at all. The style of the wedding ceremony depends on wealth. Before the Democratic Reform in 1959, no nangzen slaves had money for a wedding ceremony; comparatively rich tralpa serfs, however, attached importance to such formal rites. During the people's commune period, a wedding ceremony was held in a simple way, generally lasting one day. In the last decade, however, an increasing number of couples have held wedding ceremonies, generally lasting three or four days. This is the result of economic progress in the village.

　　Unlike young couples who favor wedding ceremonies, there are few middle-aged who do so. During the people's commune period, more middle-aged registered for formal marriage than their older and younger counterparts. Of the married now, however, only 13.33 percent have registered for formal marriage, reflecting relaxed social control. Freedom in love and marriage, plus relaxed social control, leads to greater freedom and diversity in marriage form. While the overwhelming majority of the people follow the monogamous system, there are still cases of polygamy, polyandry and unmarried mothers in the village. This is shown in Table 9.

　　Before the Democratic Reform, there were only two tralpa serf households which practiced a different marriage form. In one tralpa serf household, the elder brother was involved in military service and the younger brother gradually became the second husband of his wife. In another tralpa serf household, when the husband died, the wife remarried. When the daughter of her first husband grew up, the girl she became the second wife of her stepfather. Such a situation no longer exists with the death of the elder brother in the first case and the death of the mother in the second. So long as the blood relations were not offended, polygamy and polyandry were allowed. One old villager told us his son-in-law failed to marry his second daughter, with the result that she had to marry outside the village. "I have the feeling that I have lost one arm," he explained. "If my two daughters could marry the same husband, my family would not be so poor economically." However, the villagers especially favor the polyandry system, on the ground that it means more than one able-bodied laborer.

　　When control on polygamy and polyandry was relaxed during the people's commune period, these practices made a comeback. The four existing households still following the system were formed after 1978. Except for one household involving brothers of the same mother, but different fathers, who have the same wife through family arrangement, three other households were formed naturally. In one household, the two men were friends and the second man and the wife worked together in a warehouse during the people's commune period. When the fiNt man had difficulty supporting the family, the two men moved to the same house after family consultation. One household belongs to brothers sharing the same wife. When the brother grew up, he slept with his sister-in-law and had children. One household belongs to sisters sharing the same husband. When the younger sister grew up and had children with her brother-in-law, the polygamous family was formed. Such a process, of course, required the consent of the first husband or wife. In another case, when the elder brother had married, his mother intended to let her second son marry his sister-in-law. But the young couple objected, so the mother had no way out but to marry her younger son to a woman m Kangmar County with whom she went to live, leaving no property to her elder son and daughter-in-law. However, the fact is that 83.19 percent of the people follow the monogamous system. And the government also warns the villagers that polygamy and polyandry do not conform to the PRC Marriage Law. CPC members and government officials are banned from following the polygamous and polyandrous systems, while ordinary people are just encouraged to adopt monogamy.

　　Freedom in love and marriage also means that families in Bangjor Lhunbo village are almost too diversified in form to be grouped together according to marriage form. We divided them into the core families composed of parents and dependent children; trunk families composed of more than three generations, with parents living together with one married child, grandchildren (including children of their daughters) and their dependents; united families composed of more than three generations, with parents living together with over two married couples, grandchildren (including children of their daughters) and their dependents; and incomplete families characteristic of unmarried mothers and their children, and divorcees. These four kinds of families are shown in Table 10. But the trunk families and united families are not divided in a perfect way, because the two united families belong to families with parents living together with their dependent children, one married couple, grandchildren, plus children of their unmarried child or a divorced child and offspring. In this case, therefore, are not two married couples living under one roof. If the two kinds of families are put into one expanded families, Bangjor Lhunbo village is composed of core families (43.2 percent), expanded families (40.9 percent) and incomplete families (15.9 percent). From this, we see the trend for the core families to evolve into expanded families which split into new core families, instead of being incomplete families evolving from the births of unmarried mothers, divorce, deaths and natural disasters.

　　Of the seven incomplete families, two are composed of unmarried mothers and their children; two of divorced mothers and children; one of widow and children; one of a child whose mother remarried after his father's death and who was supported by his aunt; and one childless old lady who is guaranteed in food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses. Obviously, women in the village bear the brunt of risks resulting from family changes, and this is also the result of free marriage. The village committee intends to fine unmarried births and related social problems.

　　There are 265 residents in Bangjor Lhunbo village (excluding the one childless old lady referred to in the previous paragraph). Families are large in size, averaging 6.16 persons. Nine of the 19 core families have an average of six or more people. The size of incomplete families keeps shrinking to an average of two per family (four people for the largest incomplete family). The villagers have the intention of expanding their family size. In the village, there are 10 families which have expanded their family size through polygamy and polyandry, remarriage, adoption of children with no blood relations, or taking in people who may or may not be relatives. This is the direct result of an incomplete old-age pension system and the need to fight natural disasters. They include one old man who receives support from hjs adopted daughter and her family. When the old man's brother retired, he joined the family. There is another family composed of three children supported by their aunt, after their mother died and their father remarried. Another reason for these families to expand is the economic structure characteristic of household land tilling and livestock breeding, which calls for more land and more able-bodied laborers. All the rich families in Bangjor Lhunbo village feature large populations, which means an ample supply of able-bodied laborers and more land. Incomplete families characteristic of less land and less able-bodied laborers include one cadre's family, the childless old lady, and the five poorest families.

　　Although intermarriage holds sway, equal stress is laid on social relations associated with both parents. In a natural economic society which features traditional farming and livestock breeding, families constitute the basic subsistence entity in production and life. Such families, however, expand to the point where no blood ties exist. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, people face harsh conditions in subsistence, and the production seasons are short. This, plus frequently occurring natural calamities, pose greater living difficulties. This points up the need for mutual aid and cooperation.

　　In order to cope with the need for wedding and fimeral ceremonies, people in Bangjor Lhunbo village form gyido ties for mutual help. In Tibetan, gyido means "association for wedding and fimeral ceremonies" prevalent in China's hinterland. When a family holds a wedding or fimeral ceremony, or a Buddhist mass, other members of the gyido network which the concerned family attends will help with money and materials, plus manpower. For rich families, 10-15 families form a gyido in total disregard of blood relations or whether these families come from the same village. For the poorest families, who generally do not form such a gyido association, only two or three families, with blood ties, get together for the purpose. Given the fact that gyido features economic assistance, Bangjor Lhunbo families refrain from forming new gyido associations. As a result, the organization of gyido in the village is stable. When one family builds a new house, the whole village will volunteer to help.
The above shows the three social mutual aid networks in Bangjor Lhunbo village: The first features families lunctioning as the basic unit in production and life, which expand and operate on the basis of blood relations; the second is composed of gyido ties; and the third features inner-village mutual help. All the three networks expand on the basis of families. Such traditional ties, however, are confronted with threats on two fronts:
　　The first is the development of the commodity economy. Families with weak labor power but access to income, such as families of cadres, tend to employ their own labor instead of seeking help through gyido ties. Families with strong labor power refrain from seeking help through gyido ties, too. Nonetheless, Bangjor Lhunbo village is still a traditional society. Even the above two kinds of families have to seek traditional aid. Though money works to replace gyido in the busy farming seasons and housing construction in certain cases, gyido ties still hold sway in the village on the whole.

　　The second is the government administrative ties and the community service system which, introduced from 1966 to 1976, has always been working effectively. Government decisions and policies promote rural development in Tibet; advanced production mode and production tools boost production and enhance the standard of living. All these are altering the nature of the rural areas in the autonomous region, and taking the place of traditional ties. When the government sells diesel oil at a low cost, tractors serve farmers charging an affordable price. This helps ease labor power shortage during the busy farming and harvesting seasons. When the CPC members and cadres help the poor to get rid of poverty and when the poor families have priority for its members to work in township enterprises, the poor and those without access to aid can keep abreast with others in economic development, too. With the popularization of agrotechnology, free medical treatment for sick domestic animals, materials supplied at affordable prices, free schooling, free medicare and low interest bank loans, the government provides the farmers with needed care. In the meantime, there is development in communication, telecommunications and mass media, which help instill new ideas into the mind of the rural residents. These influence changes in the rural areas, too.