China Tibetannet  King Gesar, an epic created orally by the Tibetans long ago, covers ethnic groups, language, religion, civil affairs, literature and arts, history, politics, military, ethic, ecology and psychology, etc. Thus it is viewed as Tibetan encyclopedia. A study of the epic shows that in view of the forefathers of the Tibetans, man and nature both have souls and are equal life forms with religious dignity. It is mainly represented in following aspects, the idea of "respecting life and nature" as its core.
Harmony Between Man and Nature 
According to Tibetan legend, sky and earth come before all other things and are source of everything. Owing to floating clouds and falling rains in the sky, all things came into their existing forms and then pass to generations endlessly. So, only by knowing nature and learning its laws, can man be united with nature where humankind exists in nature and nature exists in humankind.
The forefathers of the Tibetans regarded nature as the source of human life as well as human  life values. Man is part of the world and all things on the earth have their own existing value, so all of them deserve respect and protection. The ancients held that man's acts should be beneficial to the co-existence of all things in the world. They sought for harmony in interests and value between man and nature.
They also held that the relationship between man and nature should be dealt with after re-surveying and developing the "friend and partnership" elements between man and nature. According to the Birth of the Hero in King Gesar, regarding Gesar's participation in a horse race, "after hearing the introduction from Gesar, Mother Gormo and Zhomo went to catch the horse with the help of the Heaven God, Dragon God and God Memory. When coming to the mouth of the MaolanMountain, they found the BannaMountain covered by wild horse herds everywhere. Some horses were wandering and some were eating grass in the valleys." All other wild horses ran away except a Red Rabbit Horse (it became Gesar's war horse later). It ran to Mother Gormo, "that precious horse leaned on Gesar like a child who had been separated from his mother for a long time. Gesar also fondled it gently for a long time." From this, we can see the close ties and sincere friendship between Gesar and holy horse, and this shows the ancient Tibetan people saw the relationship between man and nature as that of a friendly partnership, so the development of man could be harmonious with the development of nature.
More than 100 years ago, Engels said that one should not excessively revel in human victory over nature; for nature would surly retaliate. King Gesar also reveals a similar idea. In Conquest of the Kaqeyu Zong Tribe there is a proverb that the "white stone wall looks solid, but the red thunder can break it. Sandalwood seems have many branches but red fire can burn it." Those proverbs warn that man should get along with nature for mutual development.
 Co-existence in Worship on Nature 
King Gesar reveals that, in considering man and nature, ancient Tibetans thought all things in the nature had lives and nimbus, for example, the mountain has its Mountain God, water its Water God etc. This includes not only animals with feeling and consciousness but also plants and minerals without feeling and consciousness. Even those mountains, grass and trees, land, rock, air, spring water, rivers and seas without feeling and consciousness all have souls and their existence value. So, a mountain is respected as a holy mountain, and a lake is respected as a holy lake, and the essence and original intention of respect is to guide the ecological balance and form specific arrangements to ensure protection. For example, it is forbidden to cut down holy trees on the mountain or to cut grass and allow a herd to graze, open up a sloping field, turn over stones, pollute a water source, hunt for fish or kill wild animals at will on holy mountains.
In Birth of the Hero, Gesar and his mother were exiled by his uncle Chaotong from the State of Ling because Gesar killed three antelopes in Seyuri La, killed seven calves in Gyiboin Calves Farm later and finally killed the white forehead spirit foal in horse land of Chaotong. Then, he wore an antelope cap, calf hide cloth and spirit foal shoes, and went to mountain to hunt for deer for pilose antler; went to the river beach to beat the yellow goat with stones and hunt for wild donkey by rope, and sometimes went to kill wild animals on the mountains. All these deeds violated the taboo in his tribe and were viewed as terrible offenses. He was isolated from the Ling tribes and received the severest punishment being exiled, which can be seen as a form of ecological protection.
Take Battle Between the State of Hor and the State of Ling as another example. Sinba Meiruze sang the following verses nscrupulous and bold fishers, do you knowHor mountains and rivers all belong to Hor native land.
Countless fish in river live together with Hor men.Three gold eye fish of them are soul fish of Hor three kings.In valleys of our Hor, men are  forbidden to hunt,In rivers of our Hor, men are forbidden to fish.Anyone who hunts for animals or fish should be punished severely without pardon!
From this we can see what attitude Tibetan forefathers held for animals. At the same time they had taboos related to mountains, lakes and seas. Before holy mountains, various tribes prayed for good float grass, good livestock, the safety of officials and the common people and for no visitations of illness or disaster. The nominal meaning of these deeds is to respect the Mountain God to bless the growing of grass and trees and protect them from natural disaster, but the essential meaning is the special protection the forefathers wish to stress for the eco-environment so as to protect the living environment of nature.
Evidently, the respect for nature inherent in this request in early times for men to care for nature in the name of respecting the gods was also a way of maintaining an ecological balance in their tribes.