What happened next? When the People's Republic of China annexed Tibet, political systems in many regions of Tibet remained unchanged until, between 1959 and 1960, political reforms changed the land ownership and taxation systems.[2] Professor Melvyn Goldstein believed this affected Tibet's traditional marriage system. With the change in social stratification the du-jung and the mi-bo lower classes were the first to avoid the forms of marriage that characterized the older society.
However, as part of its population control measures, the Chinese government later forbade polyandrous marriage altogether under family law. Even though it is currently illegal, after collective farming was phased out and the farmed land reverted in the form of long-term leases to individual families, polyandry in Tibet is de facto the norm in rural areas.