A serf forced to carry his owner in pre 1959 Tibet. When the lamas and aristocrats ruled under the Dalai Lama, 95 percent of the population was owned by the ruling class and were forced to give over most of their labour to their masters
There was no explicit provision as to how many corvee taxes the serfs would pay, which was determined by the estate-holders. In this way, serfs spent two-thirds, even three-fourths time of a year offering free corvee labor for their estate-holders...Serfs needed to carry the officials, monks, businessmen and soldiers holding the tokens given by the Gaxag [Tibetan local government], and their materials free with man power or animal power, lodge them free, construct some projects launched by the Gaxag and monasteries free, and pay some materials such as highland barley, butter and eggs and money such as silver dollars and Tibetan silver that the Gaxag needed.