>>Reviews and Research on gesar

Ulan-Ude from Russia’s Republic of Buryat celebrates the 1,000th anniversary of the Gesar epic.

As long ago as the Tubo Kingdom, the epic was spread to neighboring countries and regions around the Himalayas. And after the 13th century, with the spread of Buddhism in Mongolian inhabited areas, a large number of Tibetan scriptures and literary works were translated into Mongolian. With this development, The Life of King Gesar was gradually handed down in Mongolian areas and evolved into its own system. During the second half of the 14th century, or the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it was popularized within an even wider area. Meanwhile, it was handed down among other ethnic groups inhabiting neighboring areas, such as the Tu, Naxi and Yugu.

Some 200 years have witnessed the introduction of The Life of King Gesar to foreign lands. Some portions have been translated into English, Russian, German, and French. Still, foreign contact began with the Mongolian translations. In 1716, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the first Mongolian version was printed in Beijing, providing a chance for foreign academicians to study the work. In 1776, a Russian traveler Palas first recommended The Life of King Gesar in the Collection of Mongolian Historic Documents published in St. Petersburg, exposing the singing form of the epic and related scriptures and commenting on Gesar. In 1836, a Russian scholar by the name of Jakov published the epic in Mongolian and later translated the work into German and published it in St. Petersburg in 1939. These were the earliest foreign publications concerning The Life of King Gesar.

Pakistani representative Azmi sings a portion of The Life of King Gesar during the symposium.

After it was translated into Russian and German, foreign scholars had access to the text and began to focus some attention of the work. Articles and studies on the epic began to appear. One Russian scholar used comparisons with the Life of King Gesar to illustrate a work on the Tartar Heroic Epic. In the late 19th century, the Mongolian edition began to receive a great deal of attention. Between 1879-1885, an Indian scholar visited Tibet twice, collecting a large number of materials about the epic. His articles soon began to appear in scholarly publications. The excavation of related Tibetan materials widened the scope for researchers overseas, hence Western and Eastern schools of thought emerged. The most outstanding representative of the Eastern school of thought is a scholar from the People's Republic of Mongolia. In a sense, his research can represent the level of the Eastern school of thought. His main representative work is An Illustration of the Origins of The Life of King Gesar.

Western scholars began serious study of the epic in the 1930s and their work entered into full bloom in the 1960s, later than in the East. Two French scholars, Alexander David Neel and R.A. Stein, are the major representatives of the Western school of thought. Neel visited China twice and stayed for several years in areas inhabited by ethnic Tibetans in Sichuan Province. With the help the Yunden Lama, he listened to folk artist presentations of the stories of Gesar and also collected several hand-written and wood-cut copies. After returning to France, he worked the materials into a series of stories he entitled The Exceptional Life of Gesar in Ling, which was published in French in Paris in 1931. This book was translated into English and published in London in 1933. These two publications aided the interested Westerners in understanding the contents of the epic The Life of King Gesar.

Fedodev from Bulgeria speaks at the 3rd symposium.

R.A. Stein, a reputed contemporary Tibetologist, has written many famous works. In 1958, he published Tibetan Painted Scrolls About Gesar's Life and in 1959 Tibetan Epic of King Gesar and Study of Bards, together completely and systemically illustrating the epic of The Life of King Gesar. These are regarded as the sum of Western study on Gesar.

In the past years, much headway has been recorded in such research both at home and abroad. The results of work by Chinese scholars have influenced the literary field and have been highly praised. The noted epic expert, Prof. Walther Heissig of Bonn University commented to colleagues at the First International Academic Seminar on The Life of King Gesar held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in November 1989. He said, "I envy you, as your government has attached such high importance to the collection of folk literature and this epic. There are no precedents in the history of world literature. You are quite lucky. Your work is of global significance. In Germany or some other nations, the collection of folk literature has relied on experts and scholars.''

The collection of and research on The Life of King Gesar, a cultural undertaking of the Tibetan people and the Chinese government, is being extensively and thoroughly developed.