Basang or Pasang (; zh, c=巴桑, p=Bāsāng, w=Pa-sang; born March 1937) is a retired

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

politician of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. A former slave, she joined the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

and rose to prominence during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, when she became vice-chairwoman of the Revolutionary Committee of the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

(TAR). She was a member of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

for 14 years and was the only woman leader in the TAR government from 1979 to 2002.

Biography

Basang was born in March 1937 in Gongkar, Lhokha, Tibet. Her parents were slaves, and after her mother died in 1947, Basang worked as a slave for nine years for the landlord of Chika. In 1956, Basang escaped from slavery and joined the Chinese

. She was sent to study at the

Tibet Public School Xizang Minzu University (; ), also known as Tibet University for Nationalities, is a Chinese university established to educate ethnic minorities, specifically Tibetans. It is under the jurisdiction of Tibet Autonomous Region, but is physically l ...

(now Tibet Minzu University) in

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

Province. She joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) in May 1959, and became a cadre in

Nêdong County Nêdong District (; zh, s=乃东区) is a district of Shannan in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Nêdong District has a storied administrative history rooted in its strategic location along the Yarlung River. Tradruk Temple, an important ...

, and later

Nang County Nang County (; zh, s=朗县) is a county under the jurisdiction of Nyingtri City in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Geography Nang is located in the south-west of Nyingtri, at the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The ...

, both in Tibet. In July 1965, she was promoted to deputy

county magistrate The county magistrate or local magistrate, known by several Chinese names, was the official in charge of the '' xian'' ("county"), the lowest level of central government in Imperial and early Republican China. The magistrate was the official ...

of Nang. Basang rose to national prominence during the

. In May 1966, her article praising

Mao Zedong Thought Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Re ...

was published in the ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

'', the official CCP mouthpiece. In September 1969, when the Revolutionary Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was established to replace regional government and Party organs, she was elected its vice-chairwoman. She was elected Secretary of the new CCP Secretariat of TAR in August 1971, and Chairwoman of the Tibet Women's Federation in July 1973. In August 1973, she became a member of the

10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1973 to 1977. It was preceded by the 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held three plenary sessions in the four-year period. It was formally succeed ...

. After

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

came to power, most leaders who rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution lost their positions, but Basang was reelected to the 11th and

12th Twelfth can mean: *The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution *The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland In mathematics: * 12th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order twelve places from the beginning, follo ...

Central Committees, keeping her seat until 1987. Starting in 1979, Basang successively served as Deputy Chairwoman of TAR, Deputy Party Chief of TAR, and Deputy Chairwoman of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

(CPPCC) of TAR. She was concurrently vice-chairwoman of the

All-China Women's Federation The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) is a women's rights people's organization established in China on 24 March 1949. It was originally called the All-China Democratic Women's Foundation, and was renamed the All-China Women's Federation in 195 ...

from 1998 to 2003. By the time she retired in late 2002, she had served for 24 years as the only woman in the leadership of the Tibet Autonomous Region. She continued to be a member of the National CPPCC until 2013.

References

{{Authority control 1937 births Living people People's Republic of China politicians from Tibet Chinese Communist Party politicians from Tibet Tibetan women in politics People's Liberation Army personnel Members of the 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 20th-century slaves All-China Women's Federation people Women soldiers