An excursion into the kinship structure of Tibetan society is needed to appreciate the villainous role assigned to the character Akhu (Uncle) Trotung.  The epic’s central conflict concerns family ties in the society into which Gesar is born.  Traditionally in Tibet, a group of brothers shares wife, house, and land to keep the family property indivisible.  Their collective ownership functions through the eldest.  This sometimes leads to antagonism among paternal uncles and nephews, as is depicted in the Gesar epic.

While Gesar’s only blood relative is Luza, his mother (due to his miraculous virgin birth), he is considered the “son” of the king of Ling, who received his mother as the spoils of war.  The king’s younger brother, Akhu Trotung, is therefore the hero’s paternal uncle.  This scurrilous relative wants to prevent his nephew from marrying and ascending the throne, so that he can take power himself.  While this kind of familial antagonism is contrary to the rules of good behavior, both parties are bound to a code of civility that governs even their harshest motives.  So, while Akhu Trotung is a powerful Bonpo magician and chief, he never succeeds in killing or dispossessing the hero.  And although Gesar ridicules his cowardice and greed, he never attempts to get rid of his uncle once and for all.

The overall design of the epic

The earliest authentic Gesar documents in the Tibetan language are among the manuscripts found at Tun-hang, China, an outpost at the eastern end of the Silk Route that served as a storehouse of much early Asian literature.  A cave at Tun-hang, sealed about 1000 A.D., became one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century.

According to Stein, the Tibetan texts uncovered there display a baffling inconsistency in spelling.  But they also reveal poems, songs, and a distinctive prose marked by brisk rhythm and an onomatopoetic style utilizing reduplicated and trebled syllables—the same devices used throughout the legend of Gesar.  Without the usual devices of other poetic traditions—rhyme or alliteration—this poetry rests on its rhythm and structure.  Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for a European language to match the rhythm because the meaning cannot be expressed with the same limited use of syllables.

Stein feels that use of onomatopoeia in the Gesar epic “implies a particularly emotive or dramatic situation.”