Dawa Zhagba, a “God-taught” singer, recites the epic. [Shanghai Daily]

The story of King Gesar is reputedly the world’s longest epic of around million lines, and balladeers claim they are divinely inspired to chant the thousand-year-old saga. Wu Guangyu and Zhou Yan report.

Dawa Zhagba can chant for hours on end without faltering or stopping for a drink, and lines from what is reputed to be the world’s longest epic, “King Gesar,” seem to pour out on their own.

The 36-year-old balladeer dresses in gold-colored armor and wears a crown as he chants for crowds of avid listeners in a pasture in the Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai province.

“King Gesar” is a thousand-year-old ballad about a semi-divine 11th-century Tibetan king who conquered the demons, hostile tribes and helped ordinary people. It has a million lines, more than 120 episodes and is chanted throughout Central Asia, notably in Tibetan areas. Chinese experts are compiling texts and recordings.

Like all of the epic’s singers, Dawa claims he learned the lines in a mysterious way. “I was herding cattle in pasture at the foot of a mountain when I was 13. I leaned against a rock to rest but fell asleep,” he says.

“In my dream, an old man told me that I had a special mission and would be endowed with supernatural power,” he recalls. “I was to choose between the ability to communicate with all animals and the power to tell King Gesar’s story.”

Without hesitation, young Dawa chose to tell the story. After he woke up, he fell ill with a high fever for three days. When he recovered, he found he could “magically” recite the epic, telling King Gesar’s story and mimicking the voices of different characters without having to think.

“I knew immediately I had acquired the supernatural power the old man spoke of in my dream, and I had become one of the ‘God-taught singers’,” he says.

Since then, Dawa has traveled across China’s Tibetan-inhabited areas, chanting the epic for his devoted audience. He sings for free, except when he’s invited by individuals or businesses to perform on special occasions.

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