King Gesar is an epic from Tibet based on Tibetan folk tales, legends, folk songs and proverbs. Representing the highest achievement of ancient Tibetan culture, it has been in circulation for centuries. It is an encyclopedia-like masterpiece reflecting the history of ancient Tibetan society.
The Story of King Gesar first emerged between the 1st and 6th centuries A.D. and took shape during the period of the Tubo Kingdom from the 7th to the 9th century. Since the 10th century when the Tubo Kingdom collapsed the epic has been further enriched and developed and spread further afield.
The epic is set in ancient Tibetan society where inter tribal warfare was as common as natural disasters. Evil demons and spirits were everywhere playing havoc with the people’s lives. In order to help the people and relieve their suffering several of the good deities decided to send Gesar into the world to defeat the evil demons.
In the epic Gesar is depicted as half man and half god. When he was born he was like a three-year-old child. On just the third day after he came into the world he killed a plague of rats that caused grassland damage. At the age of five Gesar moved to the banks of the Yellow River with his mother. When he was eight years old the Ling Tribe migrated there as well. Gesar won the grand prize at the horse racing festival held by the Ling Tribe at the age of 12 which in turn led to his becoming chief. At the same time he married Sengcham Cholmo, who was the most beautiful girl of the State of Ling. Gesar then led expeditions against the enemies of Ling, defeating in succession the four great demon kings: King Nortsam of the Demon State in the north, King Bacham of the Hor State in the east, King Sadain of the Cham State in the west and King Sintri of the Moinyo State in the south and drew hundreds of other small tribes and minor kingdoms to subjection.
After completing his sacred mission Gesar returned to heaven together with his mother Gormo and his queen Sengcham Cholmo, bringing an end to the epic.
In the epic, King Gesar, thousands of figures are portrayed and hundreds of wars recounted. It artistically reproduces the development of ancient Tibetan history and society through recounting how all the separate tribes and small kingdoms gradually came together. It demonstrates the Tibetan people’s wishes for peaceful reunification, social stablity and happy life.
King Gesar has a high academic value. It describes vividly the various aspects of ancient Tibetan life involving economy, religion and customs. King Gesar, in a similar fashion to the Greek and Indian epics, is another pearl in the treasure-house of the world culture and is a great contribution made by the Tibetan people in their own unique style.
Compared with the world’s other famous heroic epics, King Gesar has two ouststanding characteristics.
First, it has been passed down from one generation to the next orally and musically. Even today the epic is still widespread among the Tibetan people, especially among farmers and herdsmen. It is a “living” heroic epic and belongs to the Tibetan cultural heritage.
Second, it is the longest heroic epic in the world. It is an immense work, with more than 1 million verses running to some 20 million words, which would fill 120-plus volumes if written down.
King Gesar has a unique structure completely unlike those of other famous epics. The whole epic is composed of three parts, namely, Chapter Heaven, Chapter Subduing Demons and Chapter Hell. When folk artists tell and sing the stories they often use three sentences to outline the epic: The lord of Heaven sends Gesar to earth; Gesar fights a series of battles; Gesar triumphs in the Underworld.
