Rapping Epic King Gesar — Samdrup, Tibetan Cultural Legacy Inheritor

　　Tsering Phuntsog （China）

　　King Gesar is a heroic epic based on Tibetan folk tales, legends, folk songs and proverbs. Well-known and beloved, it has been dubbed a living cultural heritage after being handed down for generations. Unfortunately, it is in danger of extinction due to a minimal number of folk artists who can carry it forward. To rescue this legacy, since the 1980s, the Tibetan government has made unremitting efforts to record more than 130 pieces of King Gesar by 20 folk artists, among whom Samdrup contributed the most hours.

　　Compilation of Samdrup’s recording began in 2000. As planned, 48 volumes for 45 chapters will be published. Today, 43 chapters have been published, thus making a great contribution to the protection of the epic.

　　I. Preservation and Spread of King Gesar

　　King Gesar is preserved and spread in both written and oral form. The written form is based on the oral, which appeared earlier and remains more popular. To count, 80 percent of stories are still memorized. For instance, during the 1980s, the local government dispatched groups to visit 39 storytellers, the majority of whom could recite over 10 chapters of the epic.

　　In the new century, storytellers of the younger generation are primarily found in northern and eastern Tibet. A survey by the Nagqu Cultural Center shows that there are 65 King Gesar storytellers in Nagqu, most of whom can sing more than a dozen chapters. Of 12 Excellent Artists, seven can sing at least 100 chapters, and the other five at least 50 chapters. The most outstanding two, Tsering Dradul and Parga, both inheritors of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage, can sing 250 and 170 chapters respectively.

　　II. Samdrup and His King Gesar

　　1. A brief introduction

　　Samdrup was born in 1922 in a poor herding family in Dengqen County and passed away on February 16, 2011. The fifth child in the family, Samdrup showed great interest in the King Gesar epic when he was small, influenced by his father, Lozang Geleg.

　　“I could recite King Gesar by age 11,” recalled Samdrup. “I began to perform for neighbors at 13 and eventually gained considerable popularity.” At the age of 22, he left home, wandering around Tibet, singing King Gesar. He married Jamyang Drolma from Lhasa when he was 34 and soon the couple gave birth to a daughter. The family continued traveling around Tibet.

　　He was living in Maizhokunggar when Tibet implemented its democratic reform. The family eventually settled down when the local government offered them two cattle and a few acres of farmland. The couple had five more children. To pay the bills, Samdrup became involved with Tibetan wool and Chinese tallow seed oil during daytime, but continued performing King Gesar in the evenings.

　　He stopped performing during the “cultural revolution” (1966-76) and resumed after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, becoming one of the greatest singers of King Gesar. As a major inheritor of the epic designated by the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences, Samdrup began to have his voice recorded. Regardless of his life during normal working hours, Samdrup never gave up his passion for the epic and made remarkable contributions to the rescue, protection, and promotion of King Gesar.

　　His merits won him honors. Samdrup was made member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at both county and city levels. In 1991, he was cited as Chanter of King Gesar jointly by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Culture, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 1991, he was honored a Representative Inheritor of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Program.

　　Samdrup’s artistic performance matured and became enriched as he absorbed idioms, ballads and slang during his travels to different places over decades, winning him titles of “Great Master of Language” and “National Talented Personnel.”

　　2. Contents

　　Samdrup could recite 67 chapters of epic King Gesar.

　　III. Rescue and Compilation Project

　　In 1984, the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences launched a rescue project for Samdrup’s performances. In 2000, we formally started recording, sorting, and compiling his work with financial support from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. On July 6, 2001, the first group of six volumes covering five chapters of King Gesar was published.

　　Samdrup was very excited at the release: “I’m so happy to be here today,” he grinned. “I’m so excited. All my life, I’ve been singing King Gesar but I’ve never seen a device that fits in my palm recording my songs.”

　　He became more confident and devoted to the compilation of his work. He was 78, weak and sick, when the project started. As planned, 45 volumes would be recorded – the final 18 were particularly difficult. Every year we worked on new volumes, and Samdrup always worked hard even though he rarely felt well. Within seven years, 859 discs (hours) of 18 volumes of chapters including Battles between Hor and Ling and Battles between Mon and Ling were taped.

　　Samdrup passed away on February 16, 2011, leaving 12 volumes unfinished. A meeting was held on the day of his passing, discussing how to complete the rest of the project. A decision was made to make the missing volumes a major task for the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences. The editorial committee was readjusted and a special fund was tapped to complete the project. Today, five books are under compilation.

　　IV. Samdrup’s Contributions to King Gesar

　　1. Samdrup’s King Gesar has filled in blanks and neared a complete edition of King Gesar, something the world has never seen.

　　King Gesar is believed to be the longest epic in the world. Samdrup sang 45 chapters of the epic in 2,114 hours – 47 hours for each chapter. So far, 43 chapters have been completed, with 481,548 lines of lyrics, almost double the total lines of five world-renowned epics.

　　It is indeed a wonder for Samdrup, who could hardly read or write, to tell the long story of King Gesar and to record a performance edition of such a heroic epic, the longest of its kind in the world.

　　（Tsering Phuntsog, Institute of Ethnic Studies under Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences）