New Life

China¡¯s national liberation came to the Nu areas in 1950. Local governments gave out free food grains, seeds, farm implements and articles of daily use to the Nu people to help them tide over their difficulties and boost production. In 1954 the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture was established, which had under its jurisdiction the counties of Bijiang, Fugong, Gongshan, Lushui and Lanping (this last incorporated in 1957). On October 1, 1956 the Gongshan Drung and Nu Autonomous County was set up.

The pace of social reform varied in the different Nu areas. For instance, in the more-developed Lanping County, where feudalism had gained a strong hold, land reform was carried out, followed by the establishment of cooperatives in 1956. In Bijiang, Fugong and Gongshan counties, where vestiges of primitive communalism still survived, the government adopted a policy of first developing production and then gradually eliminating exploitation and primitive practices.

People from outside were sent in to promote advanced production techniques, and start up educational and public health projects. Special funds were earmarked for irrigation projects, land reclamation, paddy-field development and sideline production.

Light industries and mining, too, have gained a foothold among the Nus, and grain production has increased several times owing to the transformation of poor land into paddy fields. The formerly isolated Nu communities are now linked to each other by a network of highways, and some 20 chain bridges now span the Nujiang, Lancang and Dulong rivers.

At the time of the mid-20th century, only about 20 people of Nu origin had received primary education. Now there are primary schools in all townships and most villages, and a middle school in every county. The majority of Nu children are in school.

Four hospitals and a network of clinics and community healthcare centers have done much to control dysentery, typhoid, cholera and other epidemics.

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