ABSTRACT

The source of the Yellow River in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the place where Gesar，great hero of the Tibetan，was born and the center where the epic The Deeds of King Gesar was in common currency. The A-myes-ma-chen Snow Mountain，the Sngo-ring Lake and the Gro-ring Lake in this area were the mountain and lakes where the legendary state of Gling and Gesar deposited their souls. The Tibetans，age-long worship of sacred mountains and lakes rendered them the symbols of myth，the idols of religion，and metaphors of philosophy. The epic The Deeds of King Gesar，which mixed the unique natural environment and special humanistic customs with the religious worship of mountains and lakes，recorded completely the historical development of the people here and conveyed their concepts，cultural customs，and expectation for a better life； therefore，singing and listening to The Deeds of King Gesar became an indispensable everyday nourishment for the mind of the people here.

The Deeds of King Gesar，mixed with the concept of spirit and containing the concept of nature - that man is an integral part of nature enriched the Tibetan spiritual and cultural life continuously. Conversely，the local traditional concept of spirit and nature worship produced great effect on The Deeds of King Gesar. An interactive relationship came into being between them. The Deeds of King Gesar，deeply rooted in the soil of the source of the Yellow River with a rich cultural accumulation，enriched the spiritual homestead of the Tibetans who lived here for generations.

Based on many ancient Tibetan myths and historical documents，this dissertation focuses on the important chapters of The Deeds of King Gesar，such as The Heaven，The Birth of a Hero，Horse Racing and Declaring Himself King，Bdu-gling Battle，Hor-gling Battle，Vjang-gling Battle，Mon-gling Battle，The Hell and Pacifying Triloka，and tries to find out the typical cases related with this dissertation. With the help of a large number of field investigations，interviews and pictures，this dissertation sums up and analyzes the concepts of placing souls on mountains and in lakes reflected in The Deeds of King Gesar and the ancient Tibetan concept of nature，probing mainly into the concept of soul deposit refected in The Deeds of King Gesar，the mountain and lake where Gesar，s soul was deposited，and the integration of the ancient Tibetan concept of nature and soul deposit reflected in The Deeds of King Gesar and ancient Tibetan concept of nature.

Study shows that the soul deposit of the Tibetans reflected the expectation of the Tibetan to continue their lives. Whether the soul deposit system of the Gling Tribe or the soul deposit system of other tribes stressed the everlasting of their own lives. The form of continuing life revealed the simpie concept of nature of the ancient Tibetans to gain everlasting lives with the help of Nature； therefore，the Tibetan concept of soul deposit and concept of nature are unitary and harmonious. Experiencing the mountain worship and water worship of the private religion，natural spirit worship of Bon and worship of sacred mountains and lakes of the Tibetan Buddhism，this unity and harmony became more important and stable and surpassed the common meaning of unity，and reached the religious theoretical unity.

Depositing the soul in all things on earth not only realized self-transcendence but also merged oneself thoroughly into Nature，achieving the completely unity. From the harmonization of the concepts of soul deposit and nature，we can see the simple and great wisdom for living，rich and inflexidle idea of living of the Tibetan，that is，to continue life and growth in nature and to become rich and strong by integrating into nature.

The Deeds of King Gesar is a living fossil for us to interpret the concepts of spirit and nature in ancient Tibetan traditional folk culture. Meanwhile，people think that myths，sacred mountains and lakes，and supernatural spirits together formed cultural deposit with a strong characteristic of the local humanity，provided rich spiritual soil for the creation of The Deeds of King Gesar，and laid religious，humanistic and geographical base for the origination，formation and development of the epic The Deeds of King Gesar； while the origination of the epic created a favorable condition for the enrichment，perfection，and preservation of traditional folk culture and the Tibetan concept of nature.