King Gesar
of Tibet
The Legend from ling
King Gesar (about 1038-1119 AD) was a legendary Tibetan hero who was born in Dege County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Later generations called him King Gesar of Ling. According to legend, King Gesar is also the incarnation of the Guru Rinpoche and his wisdom, compassion and power.
King Gesar is a legendary figure in Tibetan culture, and his story is recorded in the Epic of King Gesar. This epic is considered the longest epic in the world, containing over 600,000 lines of verse. It narrates the heroic deeds of King Gesar and his battles against evil forces. The formation of the epic can be traced back to between 200 BCE and 600 CE. After years of oral transmission, it reached its final form and peak popularity in the 12th century. The epic mainly revolves around King Gesar's birth, growth, battles, and ultimate victory, reflecting the values and cultural traditions of the Tibetan people.
The epic is usually divided into several main parts:
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Miraculous Birth and Early Life: This section tells the story of King Gesar's miraculous birth and the hardships he faced during his childhood.
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Heroic Deeds: It describes how he became a king, won the throne, and married a beautiful wife.
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Wars with Enemy Kingdoms: The core part of the epic focuses on King Gesar's wars with four enemy kingdoms, showcasing his bravery and leadership.
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Unification and Peace: This part describes how he unified the tribes and brought peace and prosperity.
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Death and Legacy: The final section recounts King Gesar's death and the impact he left behind. Many legends suggest that he will return in the future to save his people.
The Epic of King Gesar is a famous epic passed down in Tibet and Central Asia. Currently, there are 140 performers in Tibet, Mongolia, and the Tu ethnic regions who sing this epic.
The Epic of King Gesar has been passed down for over a thousand years and contains 600,000 verses, making it the longest epic in the world. Its length is three times that of the Indian epic Mahabharata and fifteen times that of Ramayana. The epic tells the story of the legendary King Gesar of the Kingdom of Ling and has had a significant influence on Tibetan Buddhism.
There are more than 50 versions of this epic. In China alone, the Tibetan version has been published in 120 volumes, divided into 29 chapters. The first printed version was published in Mongolian in Beijing in 1716.
The Epic of King Gesar first drew the attention of the Western world in the 1770s. German zoologist and botanist Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811) mentioned the Gesar Temple in his travelogue Travels Through the Provinces of the Russian Empire (1771–1776).
Later, French scholars Alexandra David-Néel (1868–1969) and Rolf Alfred Stein (1911–1999), along with American scholar Robin Kornman (1947–2007), translated and introduced this epic, bringing this ancient cultural treasure to the modern world.
Table of content | Description | Table of content | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
The People of the Snowy Land Suffer Great Hardships, Praying for the Gods to Descend and Subdue the Demons | Avalokiteshvara Delivers the Teachings on Ox-Tail Continent:The Rakshasa King and the Divine Son Protected by the Heaven of Ultimate Form | ||
The Divine Child Fears Difficulty and Refuses to Descend. The Heavenly Deities Urge Him with Nine Divinations | Seeking the Divination Deity to Resolve Doubts, Eliminate Disasters, Cure Plagues, and Receive the Dragon Maiden as a Reward | ||
A Good Omen Appears, Chief Seeks Dream Interpretation, and the Great Sage Proclaims Prophecy | Avenging a Brother – Gyatsa Leads a Campaign Against the Guo Tribe, and Senlen Wins the Dragon King's Daughter | ||
Jealousy Arises – Jiafei Bullies the Dragon Maiden, Who Is Banished to the Wilderness | Chapter 8 | Coming soon |
Introduction
The story begins in the creation era, describing how three great Buddhist masters transformed Tibet from a wild land into an empire (around the 7th to 9th centuries CE). Among them, the most famous was Padmasambhava, who brought order to Tibet with powerful oaths. However, many demons were not completely subdued, and chaos returned. Tibet fell under the rule of man-eating demons and nomadic tribes, splitting into many small kingdoms ruled by evil and greedy kings.
To solve this problem, Buddha, Brahma, Samantabhadra, along with underground deities and the dragon clans, decided to send a heavenly hero to subdue these demons. They chose Wenshika (the son of Brahma). Although he was reluctant, he eventually agreed.
He descended to Earth and was born as the son of the dragon princess Jemu, becoming a prince of the Kingdom of Ling. The Kingdom of Ling was located in eastern Tibet, between the Yangtze River and the Yarlung River.
Jemu had a half-brother named Gyatsa Shega, a great warrior who died heroically in battle. She also had two uncles: Rongtsacha Gen, who was wise and supported her, and Chotong, who was greedy and tried to seize the throne but failed. Chotong later collaborated with enemies.
At first, Jemu and her son were exiled to the upper reaches of the Yellow River because of his unruly nature, where they lived a primitive life.
At the age of 12, Jemu's son returned to the Kingdom of Ling to compete in a horse race to decide the next king. He won the race, became king, and was honored as "The World Lion King Gesar Lozang Zaba." Later, he married Zhum as his wife.
As king, Gesar first defeated the northern man-eating demon Black Marutsan. His wife was later kidnapped by the White Tent King of the Hor Kingdom. Gesar killed the White Tent King and rescued his wife. He then went on to conquer the Kingdom of Jiang (modern-day Yunnan) and the Kingdom of Men (in the Himalayan foothills).