Tibetan writer A Lai authorizes animation adaptation of The Song of King Gesar

A Lai, a well-known Tibetan writer from Sichuan province, authorized the Sichuan Daily Press Group to adapt his novel The Song of King Gesar and other works into animated films on Tuesday.

The two sides signed an agreement at the First Sichuan Animated Drama Industry Innovation Partner Conference in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Under the deal, the press group obtains adaptation rights to A Lai's literary works, as well as the right to use the works for training and fine-tuning LLMs.

Widely regarded as the world's longest living epic and often described as "The Iliad of the East", the Epic of King Gesar has been passed down orally by singers and storytellers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and surrounding areas. It tells the story of ancient hero Gesar, who conquered his enemies and helped ordinary people in the 11th century. It was inscribed on the UNESCO list of world intangible cultural heritage in 2009.