Yang Enhong, researcher with the Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), speaks at a lecture about Epic of King Gesar in Beijing, on July 5, 2009.

A lecture on the Epic of King Gesar, an ancient legend collectively created by the Tibetans and also the world's longest heroic epic, was held in Beijing on Monday.

Tibetan artists perform dance at a gala to celebrate the Tibetan New Year in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Feb. 18, 2009.

The epic, believed to be about 1,000 years old, tells the life story of the fearless king Gesar, who ruled the legendary Kingdom of Ling.

During the two-hour lecture, Yang Enhong，researcher with the Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)，expounded the content, structure, ways of spreading and scientific value, as well as vocal folk artists of King Gesar.

"The Epic of King Gesar has been handed down for generations by ballad singers orally," said Yang. It is the folk artists who produced the world's longest heroic epic, she added.

Speaking of the origin of the epic, Yang explained that some bards in ancient Tibet "claimed they had experienced miraculous dreams, and then, as soon as they woke up, they found themselves able to chant the Gesar epic."

Yang pointed out that according to a survey, most of them can only chant a few simple segments initially, but they spent the rest of their lives recounting the epic.

The lecture, part of the series of Tibetan Culture Lecture organized by the China Tibet Information Center and TibetCulture.net, is the second one of its kind held at Peking University.

There will be four lectures in all with various topics, with the third one set for July 19.

Editor:Wang Nan