CHAO Gejin serves as senior researcher and deputy director of Institute of Ethnic Literature, at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He is also chair of Department of Ethnic Minority Literature at the graduate school of CASS. He acts as president of China Ethnic Literature Society (CELS), vice president of China Folklore Society (CFS), and member of editorial board of the Oral Tradition Journal. He specializes in oral tradition with a focus on Mongolian epic singing. He conducted fieldwork in Xinjiang and inner Mongolia and his many essays and papers appeared in a wide spectrum of journals. His publications include a book entitled 'Oral Poetics: Formulaic Diction of Arimpil's Jangar Singing' (2000), a field study report entitled 'The Heroic Songs of the Past: Fieldnotes on the Oirat Mongolian Epic Tradition' (2004), and his Chinese translation (2000) from John M. Foley's work 'The Theory of Oral Composition: History and Methodology'. He received his Ph.D. in Folklore from Beijing Normal University.