Media： What is the traditional custom of hanging portraits of leaders in Xizang Autonomous Region？

Yesterday, a central delegation headed by The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) of the Communist Party of China and Yu Zhengsheng, President of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, arrived in Lhasa by special plane to participate in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Xizang Autonomous Region. On the same day, the front page of Tibet Daily reported that the party committee and government of Xizang Autonomous Region held a grand ceremony to unveil the portraits of five leaders and raise the national flag in the party and government compound of the autonomous region. Since then, the huge portrait of the leaders of the Tibetan party and government compound has changed from four leaders to five today. Upolitics, a WeChat public account, has combed the tradition of hanging portraits of leaders in Xizang Autonomous Region, and quoted Ba Pingcuo, the former director of the Tibet People’s Congress, as saying that it is a natural thing for Tibet to send portraits of leaders, which is a unique way in Tibet and has a historical tradition.

The following is the original article:

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Xizang Autonomous Region, the Party Committee and Government of Xizang Autonomous Region held a grand ceremony to unveil the portraits of five leaders and raise the national flag in the Party and Government Courtyard of the autonomous region.

Since then, the huge portrait of the leaders of the Tibetan party and government compound has changed from four leaders to five today.

The news was published at the bottom of the front page of Tibet Daily on September 6th. The headline on the front page is Xinhua News Agency’s long article "Writing a New Chapter in the Snow Plateau Chinese Dream-A Documentary Report of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader Comrade as the General Secretary Concerned about Tibet’s Development".

Zheng Zhi Xiao Bian clearly remembers that three and a half years ago, on the morning of New Year’s Eve in 2012, there was already an unveiling of a portrait of a leader, but that time it was four leaders.

The former director of the Tibet People’s Congress told Ba Pingcuo four years ago that it is a natural thing for Tibet to send portraits of leaders, which is a unique way in Tibet and has a historical tradition.

What is this tradition?

Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Up to now, many Tibetans have hung Mao Zedong statues in conspicuous places in their houses, covered with Hada. Most of the portraits were made in the 1960s and 1970s, and there were many new prints. Because Mao Zedong liberated Tibet and made serfs turn over, it held a high position in the hearts of Tibetans.

Zanan, the county magistrate of Bange County, Tibet, once said that there was a herdsman in the county who was good at painting. In 1955, a rare snowstorm occurred in Naqu. Under the leadership of communist party, the disaster area in Naqu actively resisted the disaster, and the loss was minimized. No one died because of the disaster. The painter painted a picture of a herdsman prostrating himself to the statue of Mao Zedong standing on the snowy grassland.

日喀则拉孜县著名的藏刀艺人次登家里只供奉毛泽东像，平时他也不去转经、朝佛。在次登看来，真正改变他命运的是“毛主席”。他说：“我们铁匠以前在西藏是地位最低的，被称为‘黑骨头’，毛主席解放了我们，让我们翻了身，我打心眼里感激他。”

改革开放后，很多人家中的画像增加了邓小平，一般都是一人一张画像，两张挂在房屋显眼处。

和平解放50周年起“三人同框”

2001年7月，是西藏和平解放50周年。时任中共中央政治局常委、国家副主席的胡锦涛作为中央代表团团长来到西藏，看望藏族农牧民。他给看望的两家农户赠送了毛泽东、邓小平、江泽民三代领导人的画像，还各送给他们一台彩色电视机。

2002年5月5日，“劲隆摩托勇攀珠峰”大部队到达了定日，也是到达珠峰大本营的最后一个休息站。队员们在定日县一普通藏民家庭墙上发现，有三代领导人同框的画像，毛、邓、江的头像从上到下依次排列，左下有一个天安门城楼图案。

同年7月，还有日喀则地区江孜县奴堆村的普尺以胡锦涛带来的画像为蓝本，制作了领导人唐卡挂在家中。

4年后，2005年是西藏自治区成立40周年，当时也发放了三代领导人的画像。政知道小编注意到，两次画像除了背景颜色略有不同外，并没有显著变化。

陈全国到藏后推广4人画像

2011年是西藏和平解放60周年，陈全国到任西藏自治区党委书记后半年左右，选择在2012年除夕在政府大院举行领袖像揭幕暨升国旗仪式。活动旨在激励西藏各族干部群众铭记以毛泽东、邓小平、江泽民为核心的党的三代中央领导集体和以胡锦涛为总书记的党中央的亲切关怀和中国共产党对西藏人民的似海深情，进而凝聚起推进跨越式发展和长治久安的强大合力，以优异成绩迎接中共十八大胜利召开。

较之前的版本，邓换了一张侧左脸的照片，江的照片换了一张没有露齿的微笑大头照，4人画像背景左上角加了五星红旗的元素，左下角在天安门城楼的基础上，增加了群众欢庆的场景。

西藏自治区主席白玛赤林当时在在仪式上说，全区各族人民群众和广大僧尼将中央代表团赠送的毛泽东同志、邓小平同志、江泽民同志和胡锦涛总书记的领袖画像，视为最珍贵的礼物、争相领取，悬挂领袖像成为西藏各界的强烈愿望和自觉行动。

According to the inspection of political knowledge xiaobian, the report at that time mentioned that Tibet, in combination with the activities of striving for Excellence and strengthening the foundation and benefiting the people and the work of cadres stationed in temples, extensively carried out activities of sending national flags and sending leaders to villages and homes to enter temples. At present, more than 1 million faces of national flags and leaders have been donated (Zhang).

Portraits of leaders enter the "five-person era"

Judging from the portraits of leaders that have been disclosed this time, the four-person version has not changed much, but because of the addition of one person, I feel that the area of each person is a little smaller, but more is arranged by the change of position, and the head of each leader is still very clear. There is no obvious change in the background elements, but the words celebrating the 60th anniversary of peaceful liberation at the bottom are replaced by the words celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding.

If it is different from the last event, Zheng Zhi Xiao Bian thinks that the biggest difference is that the unveiling of the portraits of five leaders and the flag-raising ceremony were held simultaneously in seven cities in Xizang Autonomous Region.

After the earthquake in Nepal this year, portraits of five generations of leaders were hung in the tents of victims in the disaster-stricken area of Zhangmu.

According to a report in Tibet Daily, cadres and people of all ethnic groups in Tibet are deeply grateful for their drinking water, and they spontaneously hang portraits of leaders to express their infinite gratitude to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and their great love for the great motherland. "In order to meet the requirements of the people of all ethnic groups, the central delegation will present portraits of five leaders to the people of all ethnic groups in our region." References | Xinhuanet China Tibet News Network People’s Daily Tibet (Author | Yu Zhou)