Thousands of old tablets inscribed with Buddhist decrees at Beijing's centuries-old Yunju Temple are being damaged by pollution and exposure to air, experts say.
But more research needs to be carried out before they can be better protected, said Guo Lianjie of the Institute of Geology with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Guo and other experts want to carry out a research on how best to save the items by analyzing climate, temperature and air pollution in the area, and looking at the tablets themselves.
Certain items have been so badly damaged that the inscriptions have been eroded away and urgent action is needed, Guo said.
But the project, which is expected to cost 1 million yuan (US$120,000), has not yet been approved.
There are in the Yunju Temple a total of 14,278 tablets with Buddhist sayings on them which were inscribed from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) to the Jin (1115-1234) era. The tablets are the most complete in the world.
Last September, 10,082 tablets inscribed in the Liao (901-1125) and Jin dynasties were put into an underground store filled with nitrogen, but the other 4,196 inscribed during Sui and Tang (618-907) dynasties have been left in nine caves which are threatened by air exposure, pollution and underground water.
Copies of all the tablets have been taken. Some sayings from the Liao and Jin dynasties have been published.
"Other copies will also be published when our budget allows," according to Wang Chunya, a spokesman for the Yunju Temple.
Tablets stored in the underground safe are well protected, he added.
But the cost of such storage is high, with nitrogen in the safe costing more than 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) a year.
"It is a big burden for us," Yun Zhuren, director of the Yunju Temple's cultural relic administration section, said.
According to the director, it costs nearly 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) to store the items underground, which mainly comes from the government and donations.
"We are still debating whether to store more tablets from the Sui and Tang dynasties underground," Yun said.
It doesn't seem a good idea to store all items underground, even though they can be observed through a special window, said Guo.
But other protection measures will depend on the result of further research, scientists say.
Yun added the tablets at the Yunju Temple should be registered on the United Nations' World Cultural Relics List to help protect them.
"Whatever we do, we will do our utmost to protect these priceless tablets," Yun promised.
(China Daily)
