Li Lianrong (Brtson-vgrus-rgya-mtsho) is Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Ethnic Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he focuses on the Tibetan epic Gesar. After completing his doctoral dissertation, On the Creation and Development of Gesar Epic Studies in China: 1959-1996, he began researching the texts and performances of Gesar. He has recently published a paper entitled “The Theoretical Construction of Gesar Studies: Early Chinese Epic Scholarship” (2001).