In old Tibet, the basic economic unit of land occupation, distribution and operation was the manor, while that of the pastoral area was the tribe, in charge of grassland, livestock, herdsmen and other means of production. The manors belonging to different owners were divided into three categories: Zhungxi or government manor, Gexi or noble manor, and Chosxi or monastery manor. The basic administrative unit in Tibet, the Dzong, comprised several manors. The owners of each manor within the Dzong had staff who administered and supervised the work of serfs, collected rent and taxes and organized labor. Serfs and slaves only knew which manor they belonged to, who they paid taxes and rent, and to which master they owed service.

In 1959, Tibet had 3.36 million ke in cultivated land and over 38 percent was directly handled by the government. Nobles occupied 24 percent and 36 percent was under the monasteries. Serfs had no land the landholding peasants less. The three major monasteries in 1959 had 321 manors, 147,000 ke land, 26 pastures, 110,000 livestocks, and over 40,000 serfs.

The operating styles were different. With self-managed land, the owner had his own people managing the operation, while the serfs, mainly Dudchhongs, provided labor. The whole yield would belong to the owners while the serfs could only get a little bit of land as payment. The government rented out land to Thralpas, who cultivated it, remitted grain to the government, and provided labor.

Thralpas were persons doing unpaid labor. The land rented to Thralpas, called Thralkang land, was generally left alone by the government. But if a Thralpa could not afford the labor or had no successor, the government would distribute the land to other seffs. Thralpas only had the right of use, but not ownership. The position of Thralpas was higher than the Dudchhongs. In order to guarantee the distribution of required labor and the expected rent and taxes, land owners demanded that four to five members of a Thralpa family be at its land everyday and they could not leave the manor freely.

Dudchhong is Tibetan for small household. Dudchhongs were bankrupt Thralpas, or the people from other areas. Dudchhongs were the necessary labor force in the manors. They were given some land from the manor, and provided free labor for the landowner. Some Dudchhongs rented land from big Thralpas, provided rent in kind, paid a poll tax and had no personal freedom.

Some Dudchhongs were carpenters, blacksmiths, or repaired farming tools and made furniture for their manors. If a Dudchhong wanted to seek a livelihood beyond his manor he had to pay a poll tax to his master. The social position of craftsmen was low, especially blacksmiths, and was looked down on by others.

Nangzans, who had no capital goods and human rights, were considered merely as animals with voices by their master. Nangzans mainly provided services within the houses of the manor, and sometimes had to do any other work. Some of the Nangzans were of pure descent, some were bankrupt Dudchhongs, poor serfs or tramps. Nangzans were the private of masters, they were completely controlled and could be transferred, mortgaged or sold off freely. nangzans were house slaves with no freedom in their lives.