【Norbu Wangdan】The Transformation of Textual Pattern of Epic Ling Gesar: From Heroic Epic (rgyalrgrung) to Religious Narrative (chossgrung)
    

 Norbu Wangdan (China)

  In terms of the Tibetan tradition, there are two types of Gesar in text, respectively known as rgyalsgrung and chossgrung. The former is referring to folk narrative; the latter is associated with narrative of religion. They are crucial key words to understand the nature and evolution of epic Gesar and its text.
  The epic of Ling Gesar, throughout much of its history, was transmitted only orally. Of course, during the age of Gesar himself, in the first Tibetan cycle, there was no such tradition. It arose only afterwards, as a means of collective memory, and was not at first elaborated to the length of a hundred volumes and more, as it now is. It must have been by stages that the early tales and legends took on the aspect of divine myths. Thus, if we consider the versions of the epic from Krika in Amdo or Lower Ladakh, the original episodes seem to be those devoted to the prelude among the gods and Gesar’s birth, the horse-race and Gesar’s enthronement, and his wars with the demons (bdudgling), Hor (horgling), and China (rgyagling). In these stories, we find little evidence of Buddhist admixtures. In the Lower Ladakhi version in particular, Gesar appears primarily as a worldly hero, and not yet as an emperor of all Jambudvīpa combining divine and human attributes.
  It is in the Krika version, too, that Gesar, in virtue of his roles as demon-slayer and king who protects living beings, begins to appear as a god-like mythic hero. But the epic was probably still not developed by specialized bards, but rather elaborated in collective memory. The recitation of the tales was conducted by the old and young, men and women, of the various genealogical lineages and communities. During public festivals, religious celebrations, auspicious feasts, or funeral gatherings, the young learned what their elders recounted. And the young, returning home, or in their camps with the herds, repeated what they had heard. Thus the oral traditions began.
  As a case, it is in Golok that the Gesar traditions are particularly powerful, for there, down to the present, everyone partakes of the epic. A hundred kilometers to the southeast of Golok, in Gabdé country, there is the community called Dur-bud, which preserves the customs and traditions of ancient Gling. It’s just like the proverb, “in the mouth of each inhabitant of Gling, there’s a story.” From the old white-hairs down to the babes with milk-teeth, there’s no one who hasn’t got a tale. What one sees is that for this community, the collective memory is transmitted through the epic stories. And this is how it must have been when the bardic traditions of Tibet were first forming. Whatever may have been the case, the bardic traditions seem to have arisen mostly after the 12th century. As with the community mentioned above, everyone must have been a storyteller, and there were not yet designated bards. The general features of the story, and Gesar’s deeds in particular, were recited in what was known as a heroic epic.
  The Transformation was occurred after spreading of Buddhism over those areas. Since 15th century, Buddhist sects settled down in those regions one after another. With the rise of Buddhism in the fatherland of the Gesar traditions, the various communities gradually became the “divine estates” (lha-sde) of the various orders, whose responsibility was the dedicated service to those orders. And they received regular instruction in the Buddhist teachings from the monks of the religious colleges. So it was that their thoughts turned from more ancient traditions to those of the Dharma.
In this way, the importance of Buddhism in general, and of the teachings of the particular orders, came to be connected with the Gesar epic as well. And with this shift, certain more ancient traditions and practices inevitably declined. The characters of the epic were joined by Buddhas, bodhisattvas and mahāsiddhas, and the views emphasized came to include wisdom and compassion, former and future lifetimes, birth in the six realms, and suppression of the four māras. The very function of the epic began gradually to merge with the teaching of the Dharma, with the bard emerging as community’s specialist in this sphere.
  Therefore, the epic was transformed from a repository of worldly wisdom to a means of transmitting spiritual truths. Ling Gesar himself became an emanation of Padmasambhava, defeating the four māras and opening the gates of treasure. With miraculous abilities duplicating those of master Padma, he becomes a promulgator of the teaching, come to convert the black-headed Tibetans.
On this basis, the nature of the bard also evolved, and some began to reveal episodes as treasures (gter-sgrung), through divinatory techniques (bra sgrung), in a state of possession (bab-sgrung), through spontaneous inspiration (rtogs-pa-nyams-shar), or in pure visions (dag-snang).
  There were both positive qualities and negative points that accompanied these developments. On the positive side, with a recognized role for the bard, the culture of the Gesar epic was promoted and came to flourish. It came to be regarded as a special aspect of Tibetan culture.The downside, however, has been an erosion of the place of popular wisdom within the epic. The traditions of communities and clan lineages, which were a collective heritage, have gradually lost their importance in the culture of the Gesar epic overall.
  One of the most crucial negative impacts is appearing of written text. Buddhism is a religion that places great emphasis on written knowledge. With its diffusion in Tibet, the ten branches of the Indian sciences were promulgated, including Indian poetics. The work of Dandin was translated under the Sakyapas and became the focus of vast amplification in commentary. This led to a new appreciation of literary style in Tibet, and the Gesar epic was not exempt from its influence. There are two main reasons for which the written versions of the epic became subject to literary culture more generally.
  One was religious. As the bards were followers of Buddhism, they conformed to the standards of Buddhist learning and their versions of the epic became supports for religion. In reference to the religious revelations known as treasures (gter ma), the treasure-finders themselves came to be the discoverers of written episodes of the epic, as occurred with Nu-rdzogs-mkhan-po, Bla-ma ‘Jigs-med-phun-tshogs and consort, Bla-ma Gtum-drag-rdo-rje and others.
  The second of the reasons for putting the epic into writing was political. During the 18th century, when the leadership of Ü-tsang was shared by five ministers, three of them –Nga, Lum and Jar– assassinated their head, Khangchenné. The fifth, Polhané, knowing that he was their next target, fled to Tsang, where he assembled an army that succeeded in defeating his enemies in 1728 and, with the support of the Manchu emperor Yongzhen, retaking Ü-tsang. In order to hail Polhané as one whose conquests resembled those of Gesar, during the wood hare year (1735), the eighth of Polhané’s rule, the Ven. Ngawang Tendzin Püntsok, also called DergeZhabdrung, having collected the traditions of bards and scholars from all parts of Tibet, edited the War Against Hor (horglingg.yul ’gyed). So it is perfectly clear that that book was published for political reasons.
  The colophon of the 1735 Derge xylograph of the first part of the War Against Hor, also speaks of the manner in which the work was prepared:
  “As concerns this treatise, A Biography of King Gesar, Lord of Ling, there appear to be many ‘warrior-bards’ (dpa’ bosgrungmkhan) in the different regions. Their words and meanings differ, as does the sequence of events. I have myself heard the recitations of twenty in Mdo, Khams, and gLing, and the most profound and coherent were those of four: Tshe-ring-don-grub of Derge, Lha-dbang-rig-‘dzin of Nangchen, Zhang-lu-phun-tshogs of Chamdo, and Lha’u-bkra-shis of Ling. Their oral tradition was accepted as the basis, with additional ornamentation from versions that were not in contradiction with this.”
  As this makes clear, the author, Ngawang Tendzin Püntsok, brought a literary sensibility to his work, and was unconcerned with the particulars of popular tradition. It is regrettable that in creating a learned redaction of the War against Hor, he undoubtedly discarded much that was of value in the oral traditions he encountered. Later his work was made the basis for an edition prepared by Tshe-tan zhabs-drung, Rdi-tsha Gsung-rab-rgya-mtsho, Dgu-rong-rgyal-sras, Ba-yanNgag-dbang-chos-‘phel and other scholars from Amdo, and published in two volumes by the Qinghai People’s Press in 1964.
  In addition to past religious and political influences, our present age is one in which confidence is placed in written knowledge. Accordingly, there has been almost a daily expansion in the publication of Gesar episodes. The nationalities presses of Sichuan, followed by those of Gansu and Beijing, have edited and published the versions from monastic xylographic prints, and dedicated institutes of Gesar Studies throughout the country have undertaken to transcribe and publish the words of the bards. It has been speeding up the process of writing of Gesar.
 
  About the Speaker
  Norbu Wangdan is a Tibetan from Guide, Qinghai Province. He received his Ph.D. in Chinese literature from the graduate school of CASS in 2001. He is now Deputy Director of The National Leading Group for Epic Gesar Research, Secretary-General of the Association of Gesar studies, and Editor-in-chief of China Tibet Information Center. His work focuses on Tibetan religions, literary and ethnological studies on epic Gesar, etc. He is the author of History of Relationship between Tibet and Central Government (co-author, 1996), A Study of Human Rights in Tibet (co-author, 1999), Tibets of Wisdom: Religions in Western China (co-author, to be published soon).