Dozens of Tibetans gathered in his small tent in Nagqu, a pastoral prefecture in the northern part of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, revelling in the tale, just as their predecessors have for the past 1,000 years that the story of the great Tibetan hero has been told.

"Whenever I tell the story of King Gesar, I feel I am going back in time, joining the wars, or seeing generals of the king riding horses charging towards the enemy lines - it's just like seeing a film," said the 34-year-old Tibetan folk ballad singer wearing his yellow performing robe.

Tsering Zhandui, and 10 other young Tibetan ballad singers in the Nagqu area are actively spreading this epic through the vast grassland area - at the same time many Gesar experts fear the tale could be lost as many well-known Gesar artists are getting old.

The most revered hero in Tibet, Gesar is believed a knight sent by the Kingdom of Heaven to earth to save and protect Tibetans.

The 20-million-word, 1.5 million-line epic, is not only a great work of literature, but has also been called an encyclopedia on Tibetan tradition, culture, society and religion in ancient times.

With no written version, Gesar's story has been passed down from generation to generation by wandering folk ballad singers.

"Without the singers, the great epic will fall into oblivion," said Yang Enhong, a famous Gesar expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Precious Heritage

There are about 100 folklorists able to sing or narrate the epic today, and most of them are Tibetan. Several are Mongolian or from the Tu ethnic group. Most are in their 60s or 70s. The only young artists are found in Tibetan-inhabited areas.

To save this great literature, the Central Government has funded several programs and projects.

Many artists have been invited by local cultural departments to recount the epic so it can be recorded on tape. So far, about 40 volumes of Gesar stories have been published and 5,000 tapes have been made.

"Young artists are real treasures," said Yang. "We find new artists in very remote areas."

As more and more local herds people gain access to modern media, the number of young people interested in singing ballads may fall, he said.

"It is necessary to protect the narration artists," Yang said.

Many Gesar narrators say they discovered their skill in dreams.

This was precisely what happened to Tsering Zhandui, when he was only 13 years old, he said.

"I still clearly remember that day and the dreams," he said.

That day he was scolded by his parents for a mistake while herding sheep, so he ran away from home in Bange County in Nagqu, and got lost in the mountains.

He found a cave and slept there overnight and that was where he dreamed endless dreams about King Gesar, his queens, and the wars, he said.

When his anxious parents awakened him from his long dreams, he said, "I just felt hungry and thirsty, and felt the lines of the epic were about to jump out of my mouth."

Three years after that, he was recounting the epic to himself. Few people knew what he was saying because "Gesar" was banned in the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) in China.

"I had never heard the story told before," he said. "But I knew such a story existed."

Later, a neighbour showed him a book from India that referred to the words he kept repeating to himself, and told him that those words were actually from "Gesar." That was when he knew he had become a legendary "God-instructed" Gesar artist.

For Gesar artist, Mardy, 22, it was not a dream that showed him the epic, but a fever.

When Mardy was also 13 years old, he got sick and was feverish.

After he recovered, he could recite some Gesar stories, but not very much.

His parents invited Lamas to chant Buddhist scriptures to him and after several days, he could recount the whole story.

Mardy cannot read and has never been enrolled in school.

"My existence before this life might have been a Gesar artist," he said.

The stories of Gesar narrators all different, yet similar, experts said.

"Each of the 11 artists have different stories," said Danba Yargyai with the Nagqu Culture Bureau. "Some slept when herding sheep and woke up with the epic in their hearts. Some became mad or lost consciousness suddenly. After Lamas chanted Buddhist scriptures, they regained consciousness and were able to tell the story."

But the artists all show commonalities. None of their parents, grandparents or other relatives are Gesar artists and none of them were enrolled in school. None had heard the story but some said they knew the name of the epic.

Epic Performances

Now, except for Tsering Zhandui, who is the head of the group and works for the Nagqu Culture Bureau where he has performed regularly since 1995, the other 10 artists still herd sheep and yak.

They are invited to perform for big ceremonies and festivals such as the horse-racing festival held in Nagqu in August every year.

Some Tibetan families also invite them to perform at special family occasions such as the birth of a new baby or a harvest.

"Tibetans love to listen to the stories," said Danba Yargyai. "They are very familiar with the story and its heroes. They don't like reading from the books even though there are now books on Gesar."

Generally, the price for watching a performance is 5 yuan (60 US cents) per person. They tell different stories on different occasions.

"All 11 can narrate any part of the whole Gesar story, but there might be minor differences among their own versions such as the names of the generals," said Yargyai, a Gesar lover and chairman of the Nagqu Writers' Association.

In the past seven years, Tsering Zhandui has performed every day, eight hours a day. Normally, he tells one and half chapters per hour.

As the head of the group, Tsering Zhandui, who has also performed in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region; Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province; and Beijing, the national capital, said he never considered having an apprentice because he believes there are only "God-instructed" Gesar artists in the world.

He hasn't even considered teaching his own daughter, 5, and son, 1, about Gesar.

"One cannot learn to be a Gesar artist," he said seriously.

He and his group feel very lucky and grateful to be Gesar artists, he said. They are respected and warmly welcomed by the local people and the government.

"I feel proud of being a Gesar artist," said Mardy. "Whenever I tell the Gesar stories, I become excited and very happy."

(China Daily September 10, 2002)