Over 200 monks' homes demolished at historic Dza Sershul Monastery in eastern Tibet: CTA and RFA reports of October 27 say the drive began October 25 or 26 amid a local communications blackout
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and Tibet Express reported on October 27, 2026 that Chinese authorities have launched a demolition drive at the historic Dza Sershul Monastery in Sershul County, Kardze Prefecture, in Kham, eastern Tibet, targeting more than 200 residential quarters belonging to monks; the operation is believed to have begun on October 25 or 26. Local officials have imposed severe restrictions on internet access and communication channels throughout the area and have been conducting compulsory public meetings with residents, creating an information blackout that makes the exact scale and status of the demolitions difficult to verify independently. Founded in 1760, Dza Sershul is a premier Gelug centre of learning in the Dzachuka region, with six specialised colleges for Sutra and Tantra studies, an estimated 500 to 1,200 monks, a Tibetan medical hospital, an elderly care home, and sacred relics including a 19-metre-tall gilded copper statue of Maitreya Buddha. The CTA's own website carried the same story as a featured item on October 27, and The Tibet Post reported the demolition the same day. [1]
Why it matters
This demolition is worth recording for four reasons. First, the target is not ordinary housing but one of eastern Tibet's most important scholastic infrastructures: founded in 1760, Dza Sershul is the only monastic university in Kham qualified to teach and bestow the highest Tibetan Buddhist 'Geshe' degree, and its six colleges, medical hospital and elderly care home form a complete religious, educational and social-service system — demolishing 200-plus monks' quarters strikes at the community's living base and its transmission of learning, not just at buildings. Second, the same monastery has been targeted before: in July 2018, authorities forcibly expelled more than 200 novice monks under the age of 18 from Dza Sershul into government-run schools; this demolition points in the same direction — shrinking traditional monastic life. Third, it connects directly to this site's recorded tightening thread in Tibetan areas: three Golog schools shut within weeks (recorded October 19), the former Ragya Monastery abbot sentenced to five years for long-life prayers (recorded October 19), and the July 2026 Larung Gar demolitions (at least 1,060 residences) — Dza Sershul is the latest link in the same tightening, after the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress took effect on July 1. Fourth, the information blackout is itself part of the fact pattern: restricted communications and compulsory meetings prevent verification of scale and progress — so this record is graded 'under ongoing verification', does not present '200-plus' as a verified final figure, and does not present an ongoing demolition as completed. [1]
Full report
According to Tibet Express on October 27 from Dharamshala, Chinese authorities have reportedly launched a demolition drive targeting more than 200 residential quarters belonging to monks at the historic Dza Sershul Monastery in Sershul County within the Kardze region of Kham, eastern Tibet. Information received by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and reports attributed to Radio Free Asia (RFA) underpin the report; the operation is believed to have begun on either 25 or 26 October, though the exact scale and status of the demolitions remain difficult to verify independently. The CTA's own website carried the same story as a featured item on October 27 ('Chinese Authorities Reportedly Carrying Out Demolition Drive at Historic Dza Sershul Monastery in Eastern Tibet'), and The Tibet Post reported the same day that the demolition campaign took place on October 25 or 26. [1]
The demolition is accompanied by information controls: local officials have imposed severe restrictions on internet access and communication channels throughout the area, and authorities have been conducting compulsory public meetings with residents. Tibet Express notes that this deliberate suppression of information flow has created an information blackout, making it exceptionally challenging to assess the immediate safety of the monastic community or confirm whether the demolitions are ongoing. This record likewise cannot independently verify the demolition's scope, and therefore uses qualified wording ('reportedly', 'believed to have begun') throughout. [1]
The monastery's standing is key to the event's gravity: founded in 1760, Dza Sershul is a premier centre of learning for the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism in the Dzachuka region, housing six specialised colleges dedicated to Sutra and Tantra studies, supporting an estimated 500 to 1,200 monks, and holding deep cultural significance through its Tibetan medical hospital, elderly care home, and sacred relics, including a 19-metre-tall gilded copper statue of Maitreya Buddha. The Tibet Post likewise describes it as a renowned cultural museum and Gelug institution providing rigorous philosophical education and local humanitarian services such as a hospital and elderly care home. [1]
The monastery and its surroundings have repeatedly been targets of control in recent years: in July 2018, Chinese authorities forcibly expelled over 200 novice monks under the age of 18 from Dza Sershul Monastery, transferring them to government-run schools as part of a broader crackdown on underage monastics; in November 2019, four monks from the nearby Dza Wonpo Ganden Shedup Monastery were detained alongside local laymen after distributing leaflets advocating human rights and Tibetan independence; in November 2025, authorities arrested around 80 Tibetans following local protests against gold-mining operations at Serkhog, a traditional grazing area, with reports alleging violent interrogations and enforced disappearances. These background events are all listed in the same Tibet Express article and are relayed here with that attribution. [1]
Verification note and links to this site's records: the core facts — the CTA and Tibet Express disclosure on October 27 of a demolition drive at Dza Sershul, targeting more than 200 monks' quarters, beginning October 25 or 26 — are supported by the sources above; but the exact scale, whether demolitions are ongoing, and the monks' resettlement situation are unverified, with local communications restrictions the direct cause of the verification difficulty, and no public Chinese statement on this demolition had been seen at the time of writing. A distinction is also needed: the July 2026 Larung Gar demolitions (at least 1,060 residences) concern a different monastery and a different round of demolitions, and this record does not conflate the two; this site's October 19 records of the Golog school closures and the Ragya abbot's sentence are separate cases in the same regional tightening. This record is graded 'under ongoing verification' and will follow the demolition's progress and the monastic community's situation. [1]
Links above point to the original publishers of the cited reports or articles. Their conclusions are attributed in the text and do not imply that this site has independently verified every factual claim.