Sangzhub does not talk a lot. However, we found we had much to exchange whenever we met. He is very humorous, and impressed me as a talkative old Tibetan man.

LEARNING TO SING.
Sangzhub was born into Ru Village, Qoinbo, Dengqen County in northern Tibet in 1922. Located between Nagqu and Qamdo, the village was frequented by merchants and Buddhist worshippers. Unlike people in other villages in north Tibet, Ru people were knowledgeable.
Sangzhub" s merternal grandfather, Lobsang Geleg, succeeded by exploiting the geographical advantages in business. Sangzhub led a life which was comparatively better-off than others in the village who lived on farming and livestock breeding.
Lobsang Geleg was straightforward, and loved drinking whenever there were friends who visited. With cups of wine in stomach, he would sing segments of King Gesar. Gradually, many of his friends and family members, Sangzhub included, learned to sing.
When the singing became majestic in melody, Sangzhub knew King Gesar was about to fight, when the music became melodious, Sangzhub understood King Gesar had won the battle and returned triumphantly. Before long, King Gesar became the savior in his mind.
Sangzhub was very sad at the death of his grandfather. He missed him so much that he hated to talk. In the meantime, he missed his grandfather" s robust singing of King Gesar.
Sangzhub was 11 years old. One day, he went herding in the mountain. All of a sudden, the blue sky became overcast and soon it drizzled. Sangzhub drove his sheep to a mountain cave. It was spacious and comfortable, and Sangzhub fell asleep against the rocky wall.
Some vicious persons came and Sangzhub fought with them tenaciously. Soon, he was beaten black and blue. At this crucial moment, King Gesar came to his rescue. He defeated these vicious persons with fists. Sangzhub was gratitude for the king and tried but failed to utter words of thanks.
He woke up and found it was a dream.
Sangzhub went back home in a trance. What he experienced in dream repeated in mind. Father brought him to the Living Buddha Ledain with the Zonghu Monastery for advice.
With the advice from the Living Buddha, Sangzhub retained in the monastery for recuperation. However, his dream went on and on every night. In a dream, he was reading King Gesar with great interest. He woke up and found stories about King Gesar filled up his mind.
Sangzhub singing Landing the Hat.
When he had returned home from the monastery, he sang King Gesar from time to time. He felt good when he finished singing. Gradually, he became a master King Gesar balladeer. His neighbors were astonished by his accomplishments, and took pride in him.
To make a living, Sangzhub went around in the locality. He followed the flow of Buddhist worshippers, and sang the epic for food. All along the way, he labored for the Tibetan troops. During trips, he came across many artists, and always listened carefully what they sang, and learned a lot from this.
A few years later, Sangzhub grew up and became a master King Gesar balladeer. When he returned home, he was disappointed to see everything remain unchanged. His parents still toiled in the field but had to struggle to keep their heads above water. He decided to leave again, and he did leave soon. This time, he left his hometown for 50 years, and, during this period, had never returned. He maintained no contact with his family members at all.
He had a Gesar hat and walking stick made. The walking stick, complete with an iron ring at one end, took the shape of Gesar" s whip which possessed magic power, and could be used to serve as a horse.
With the two magic weapons, Sangzhub sang King Gesar all along the way. He became so popular that he was invited to sing in village B when he was still singing in village A.
Legend has it that Shannan Prefecture was the area ruled by King Sinchi who was defeated in the war between Moin and Ling tribes. Sangzhub understood this was why the locals, offsprings of the Moin, did not like the epic. However, county officials and the nobles loved to listen. They invited Sangzhub to sing for them.
One day, he followed the worshippers to the Lhagyiali Residence which glistened like the Potala Palace. He was invited to sing in the Residence.
Gyiali Chiqen was the known-to-all noble in Shannan. Legend has it that he was the offspring of Songtsan Gambo. Sangzhub stayed put in the Residence for some days, and received good treatment. Sangzhub sang Ngada Lhamo for Chiqen, and his performance brought down the whole Residence.
In a few days, Chiqen invited more to listen to Sangzhub" s singing. Sangzhub sang Karqi Yuzong for them.
Sangzhub stayed in the Residence for about one year, leading a well-to-do life. Later on, he followed Chiqen to Lhasa, where he continued to sing King Gesar. At first, he stayed in the residence of Chiqen" s relatives; later, he stayed in the residence of Soikang, a noted noble in Lhasa.
Gradually, Sangzhub built up his fame.

LANGUAGE MASTER.
Many King Gesar balladeers came from nothern Tibet and Qamdo. However, as Sangzhub had covered many parts of Tibet, he had a good command of different dialects. Wherever he went, he tried his best to sing in local dialect. Once in Lhasa, he sang in Lhasa dialect. This won favor of the local audience.
Sometime later, Sangzhub leased a small house to live. He visited nearby monasteries and sang to make a living. Before long, he fell in love with a country girl who was 14 years younger. Finally, he married her-Giangyang Zholma at the age of 35.
He brought his family to Moinzhokungka, located nearby downtown Lhasa, during the "democratic reform"" (1959-1960). It was a semi-farming and semi-livestock breeding area. The local government allotted them a milk cow and some land. Sangzhub and his family settled down. He worked in the field during the day, and sang King Gesar for neighors in the evening.
In the early 1980s, the Central Government followed special policies in Tibet with a view to firing the Tibetans" enthusiasm for production. Farmers and herders are exempt from agricultural and livestock breeding taxes, and land and animals were given back to individuals for household management. At that point of time, Sangzhub and his family owned 1 hectare of farmland, four horses, 30 sheep and 21 yaks including six milk cows. For Sangzhub with seven children, these were not enough. But, compared with what he owned in the past, the man was satisfied.

CONCENTRATED IN SINGING.
In 1985, Sangzhub was elected a member of the CPPCC Moinzhokungka Committee. He was gaining in years, and his children took over all the field work. This made it possible for him to concentrate in singing King Gesar.
The Tibet Academy of Social Sciences asked him to record what he sang. And he agreed. For years running, he kept recording his singing.
"Had it not been for the Central Government, I would not be able to live such a good life,"" he often said. "I will repay the kindness of the Government with my recorded singing."
In order to have quality recording, he did so in a mountain cave. Very often, he stayed there for a whole day. In a short span of a few years, he finished recording 41 volumes of King Gesar in 1,989 tapes.

SANGZHUB" S THEORY.
According to Sangzhub, King Gesar has 18 large chapters, 18 medium-sized chapters, and 18 small chapters. Large chapters tell large-scale wars. The result of these wars was the Ling tribe gained. Medium-sized chapters tell no large-scale wars. Small chapters tell different things.
Of the 18 large chapters, Sangzhub held that there were four chapters which tell stories about fighting demons; all other wars broke out after these wars. Therefore, Sangzhub argued, the war against the demons had a vital role to play in King Gesar.
Yu Xixian, master in the Gansu edition of the epic, held that after the 18 large chapters is the Peace Reigning the Three Realms-Heaven, earth and man. In Sangzhub" s view, however, it refered to peace in India, Nepal and Han area; King Gesar conquored areas neighboring Ling State, inviting peace for Ling before returning to the heavenly kingdom.
Sangzhub" s singing of this part of King Gear was recorded in 86 tapes.

DEITY TAUGHT STUDENT.
Sangzhub insisted that he learned to sing King Gesar from the deities. Before starting to sing, he closed his eyes and counted rosaries in mediation to invite deities to assist him in singing. He sang with great emotion.
"When I sing the role of Gesar" s enemies, I will do my best to fight Gesar,"" he often said.
"I will do that mercilessly."
He hated to see others interrupt his singing. "When I sing, I am performing the mission entrusted by the deities,"" he explained.
Sangzhub once said: "I am old, and I have had 41 volumes of King Gesar recorded. However, none of my singing has been published in written form."
In March 1992, Sangzhub was told he and other 12 balladeers would have a chance to have their singing published in written form with financial aid from the Central Government.
"I am relieved!"" exclaimed the old man.