Jiangbian Jiacuo  (Vjam-dpal-rgya-mtsho) comes from Tibetan, born in Batang County, Sichuan. Graduated from Southwest Institute for Nationalities in 1955. He is Senior Researcher at Institute of Ethnic Literature, CASS; Director of the Leading Group for Epic Gesar Studies. He works primarily in Tibetan literature and epic Gesar studies, has published many articles and essays in this filed. He is author of Ge-sa-er chutan (Primary Exploration on Gesar, 1986), Ge-sa-er de lishi mingyun （The Historical Fate of Gesar，collected papers, 1989）, Ge-sa-er yu Zangzu wenhua (Epic Gesar and Tibetan Culture, 1994)，as well as Gesaer lun (On Epic Gesar,1999).

Jiangbian Jiacuo was born in October 1938, in Batang town, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. He attended elementary school in Batang during 1945 and 1950. In September 1950, he joined the People"s Liberation Army and followed it to Lhasa in 1951. He was a member of the Culture Work Group unit in the army, as well as a Tibetan translator. From February 1952 to April 1954, he was sent to study in the cadre school for Tibetan Military Region. In May 1954, he went to the Southwest Ethnic College in Chengdu to continue his education. After graduating in 1955, he remained in college as an instructor, giving classes on Tibetan literature.

In October 1956, he was transferred to Beijing, working on Tibetan translation, editing and publishing at the Ethnic Publishing House. During the 24 years in the Ethnic Publishing House, his major works were translation and publication (in Tibetan) for works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao Zedong, as well as other documents and literature of national importance. He participated in Tibetan translation and publication of books such as the Communist Manifesto, Selected works of Mao Zedong(vol 1- 5), and Mao Zedong"s Poetry. During that period, he had also been translator for Dalai Lama, Tenth Panchen, Master Xirao Jiacuo and other upper society people on Tibetan religion and politics. He had also been an interpreter for the National Communists" Congress, National People"s Congress, National Political Consultative Conference and other important national meetings.

In 1980, He took an examination for admission to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and was accepted as a vice-researcher in the Ethnic Literature Institute. He started to work in CASS next year and has remained there since then. His study areas are Tibetan literature and its translation, with focus on the Tibetan heroic epic poem Gesar. He is in charge of the Gesar project. At the same time, he also studies issues on contemporary Tibet and carries on writings on literature.

He was promoted to researcher in 1990, guiding students for doctoral and master degrees at the graduate school in CASS.

In 1987 he published Initial Search for Gesar, the first monograph on Gesar study, also the first monograph on China"s epic poem research, filling the blank on this important academic area. It has a watershed meaning as it ends China"s lacking of study on its own epic poems. The book won the first award to the ethnic reading materials in 1986. In 1987, Baowentang publishing house published The Complete Legend of Gesar by Jiangbian Jiacuo and Wu Wei. It was compiled from various hand-written copies and wooden copies, as well as songbooks by folk song singers. It combines academic values with literature, specialty with popularity, and thus appealing to both cultured and popular tastes. The book is so far the most complete compilation of Gesar"s legends, and is liked and praised by a broad reading publics. It received the national award for outstanding books from the News Publication Bureau in 1989. The second edition was published in 1997 by the Writers Publishing House and was nominated by the NPB as one of the outstanding books in 1999

1989, his paper collection, Gesar and His Historical Destiny, was published and received the first award for outstanding book from the Ethnic Literature Study of China.

1994, his Gesar and Tibetan culture, as one of the key research projects of the national philosophical and social sciences, was published. It won the outstanding book awards from the National Education Committee in 1995 and from the Ethnic Literature Study of China in 1998.

1999, his Gesar was published and received the First Award from the National Culture Federation.

He led the compilation of Collection of songbooks of Gesar (10 vols, in Tibetan, published by the Tibetan publishing house of China). It was one of the national key science and research project during 1991 and 1995.

Currently, he is taking charge of the compilation of Best Selection of Gesar (40 vols). It is a culture project spanning across the last century and funded by the nation.

More over, he has published more than 100 papers in Chinese and Tibetan. Some of them have been translated into various languages, such as English, Germen, Japanese and Finnish.

His novel Gesanmeiduo (in Chinese), published by the People"s Literature Publishing House, was the first novel by a Tibetan writer to reflect the temporary lives of Tibetan. Using Tibet"s liberation by the PLA in early 1950 as a background, it delineates the historical change on Tibet and Tibetan people. The novel has great scenes, various characters and complex plots, written vividly and smoothly in a language full of local ethnic characteristics. It won the 1982 outstanding work prize issued by the Chinese Writers" Association and the National Ethnic Committee

The Tibetan version of Gesangmeiduo was published in 1981. He tries to write bilingually. In a multiethnic country, this is an effort with practical significance. The Tibetan version received high praise from Tibetan critics. Some chapters have been selected into Tibetan textbooks. It won the first award of literature creation in Tibetan.

In 1985, he published the historical novel the 13th Dalai Lama (co-wrote with Wu Wei). Taking as a theme the fight to defend Gyangze against the British intruders in 1904, the book describes a heroic defense war in modern Tibetan history to resist the British intrusion. It highly praises Tibetan people"s indomitable courage and their patriotic sentiment. The book was republished in 2001 by the Writer Publishing House.

In the past 20 years, he has visited more than 10 countries for academic activities and giving lectures. He has circled around the Himalaya Mountain to India, Pakistan and Nepal to inspect the evolution of the epic poem and study how it got spread. He is the first and the only Tibetan scholar to circle around Himalaya for academic inspection and study

He has attended many international academic conferences on Tibetan subjects. From Dec 2000 to Jun 2001, he was invited by Harvard as a visiting scholar to carry on studies on Tibetan.