Maybe you've heard of the epic of The Life of King Gesar? It's the orient's Homeric epic, a tale which originated from Tibet but which has been handed down for 1,000 years. But the question now is how to preserve this ancient folk art in modern society.

Described as the Orient's Homeric Epic, "The Life of King Gesar" is a heroic epic created long ago by Tibetans. The epic tale has been passed down through generations for over 1,000 years in a combination of songs and narration. Over the past few decades, Chinese experts have been trying to preserve the story in print. Recently they published ten volumes of "The Life of King Gesar" and another 15 volumes of singing and narrative version by a famous local bard. Wang Jing takes a look.

The venerated hero Gesar is thought to be a knight from the Kingdom of Heaven sent to earth to save and protect the Tibetans. And "The Life of King Gesar", is regarded as the greatest work of the Tibetan literature. The epic details the region's development and charts the many wars fought between different tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China.

It vividly pictures the lives of the ordinary Tibetan people, living among heroic warriors led by King Gesar who make valiant sacrifices. Heroes and tyrants, young and old, the figures have left deep impressions on readers and listeners of the tale.

Doctor Chao Gejin is from the Institute of Ethnic Literature with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The epic depicts the history of Tibet. It conveys the spirit and lofty ideals of this people and serves as an encyclopedia of Tibet's history and culture. "

The epic is based on ancient Tibetan folk stories, interwoven with Tibetan proverbs, legends, poems and fairy tales. It also provides a treasure trove of information for scholars of Tibet's social structure and its ancient folk customs. No wonder then it's often called the "Orient's Homeric Epic".

For decades, researchers have painstakingly studied the epic. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the central government has sent out hundreds of researchers to build its collection of material. The study of "The Life of King Gesar" has been listed as a key project by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences since 1983 and has got special financial allocation from the Ministry of Finance.

Meanwhile, the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia and the southwestern province of Sichuan, where "The Life of King Gesar" was also handed down and later added to, have set up rescue teams to timely collect and publish different versions of the epic story.

The local government of Tibet Autonomous Region set up a specialized research institute to handle the compilation and the publication of the epic. Jiangbian Jiacuo is the head of the institute.

"It wasn't until the founding of the People's Republic of China that organized and large-scale research work began. After the Cultural Revolution we set up a research institute, and we've collected more than 180 different song and narrative versions of the epic and 55 mimeographed or woodblock editions. We've also recorded 70 performances of the epic story."

King Gesar's image and stories can be found everywhere on the snowy plateau, in carvings, paintings, murals, woodcuts, embroideries, as well as in the songs and dances of local folk bards. The study of the bards should provide the key to tracing the sources of the King Gesar, but it is also the most difficult part of the research work. Here's Jiangbian Jiacuo again:

"Most of the bards are living in pastoral areas. We have to find them first before we can record their singing and narration, and study their language. This is quite complicated. Currently, we are still running short on specialized researchers on the work."

Folk bards played an important role for the popularity and immortality of "The Life of King Gesar". They are often illiterate, but are able to recount stories with amazing literary sophistication. Each of them has a fantastic account of how they came to be part of King Gesar. Unlike other folk artists, the bards don't pass down their legacy from master to apprentice, or from father to son. They believe the skill of performances depends on the inspiration of the god, not by inheritance or study. They believe the emergence of generations of artists is linked to the reincarnation of a relation of King Gesar.

And there are other special customs. Before presenting performances, the bards usually hold ceremonies where they burn incense and worship gods or sing in front of a mirror. They always wear hats with all kinds of bird's feathers and carry musical instruments made of ox horn or they ring tambourines.

Researchers found hundreds of bards who were active in rural and pastoral areas, but many of them are getting too old to perform.

The recently-published 15 volumes of singing and narrative of "The Life of King Gesar" are based on the performances of an 82-year-old artist called Samzhub. Doctor Chao Gejin has worked on the project:

"We are planning to publish 45 volumes in total based on the singing and narration of the old artists. He couldn't read, but he can sing nearly 20 million words of the epic."

The preservation work of "The Life of King Gesar" has also caught the attention from international scholars. Part of the published version has been translated into English, Russian, French and German, and the study of King Gesar has spread to the whole world. Last year marks the 1000th anniversary of the birth of the epic, which was listed by UNESCO in 2001, and more seminars are expected to be held by Gesar researchers from home and abroad. Here's Doctor Chao Gejin again:

"Even today, we could still find enjoyment from its beautiful language. And the spirit of perseverance conveyed by the epic is still inspiring today."

He says researchers now plan to set up a voice data base which will record the singing part of the epic with instrumental accompaniment. They hope this will preserve the traditional singing part of the epic in its original form.