Brief features
(1) Figures
The portrayal of characters through dialogue, actions, and plot twists is characteristic of the epic. Based on its society, the epic sums up important stages in the development of Tibetan history and captures the lives of ordinary Tibetan people as well as hundreds of important figures. Whether hero or tyrant, male or female, young or old -- the characters have made a deep impression on readers with their clearly defined features and striking images. The heroic figures, led by King Gesar, provide immortal examples of valiant sacrifices. No two figures in the epic are identical. For instance, among the heroes, King Gesar is portrayed as a leader with a broad and long-term view and a bold vision; Manager King is described as a resourceful and kind man; Gyaica is expressed through his words and deeds as a brave man of strong character; and Dainma is described as both intelligent and courageous. The female figures are portrayed more elegantly, with vivid and lively characteristics. For instance, according to "Battles Between Hor and Ling," three kings of Hor sent armed forces to seize Zholmo, the wife of King Gesar. (When the wife of Hor's King Gurdkar died, four birds from Hor were sent to find the king most beautiful woman in the world -- who just happened to be Gesar's queen.)
(2) Rhetoric
King Gesaroriginated from ancient Tibet's ordinary society and had a deep grounding in ancient Tibetan literature, especially folk tales. Before the epic emerged, Tibetan literature boasted a numerous variety of richly woven works, especially folk and fairy tales, legends, traditional stories and poems. King Gesar drew much from previous literary works and carried forward the tradition of excellence via plot development, evolution, materials, and forms of expression, as well as ideology, religion and customs. The epic also borrowed a number of Tibetan proverbs that were cited in the original work or adapted later in the epic.
King Gesar has also preserved various traditional odes, such as the "Ode to Wine," "Ode to the Mountains," "Ode to Tea," "Ode to Horses," "Ode to Swords and Knives," "Ode to Dress," and "Ode to Armor."
The epic also combines many prose and verse styles. Its poetry links the ancient past with the modern age of Tibet's literary development. It reflects the importance of ideological and rhetorical methods, especially in terms of poetic rules and forms. Poems of this style are common inKing Gesar: Not only do they follow a multiple paragraph pattern and a circular style characteristic of the Tubo period, but they also create a new style that uses eight-word stanzas instead of the former six-word stanzas (in the original Tibetan language). The rules and forms were basically fixed by the 11th century and have remained unchanged. This form is widely used in Tibetan folk songs, narrative poems, poems in lyrical stories, and Tibetan dramas, as well as in the works of scholars and poets. They have become the most influential and important rules and forms in Tibetan poetry.
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