A treasure trove of ancient wisdom lies behind the crimson and white walls of the Potala Palace in southwest China's Xizang. The Palm-leaf Manuscripts, written not on paper but on leaves, are some of the world's oldest Buddhist texts. Today, a team of dedicated researchers is racing to preserve them for future generations. Cen Ziyuan has the story.

Etched onto the leaves of the Borassus flabellifer tree, these manuscripts traveled centuries ago from India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to Xizang.

Over 29,000 leaves are stored inside the Potala Palace alone, making it the most concentrated collection of its kind in China.

But time has taken its toll on these manuscripts.

LENG BENKAI Assistant Curator, Cultural Relics Conservation Section, Potala Palace Administration "The greatest challenge lies in the damage already present on the palm-leaf manuscripts — from lifted copper-thread bindings and deterioration to traces of improper past repairs. Our greater concern is that these conditions may get worse."

Palm-leaf manuscripts were once beyond repair until the formation of this team in 2022.

They came in with the help of intangible cultural heritage inheritors.

TSERING WANGDU Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor of Thangka paintings and Tibetan paper "The problems are varied and complex. Some types of damage are easier to address, while others are harder to understand and treat. Over time, the palm-leaf manuscripts have been made from different kinds of leaves, depending on when they were created. Some of these specific leaves are now in short supply, and the types we need have already gone extinct."

The team is experimenting with a mix of natural Xizang's ingredients to recreate safe, flexible adhesives.

TSERING WANGDU Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor of Thangka paintings and Tibetan paper "The manuscripts come from different periods, the scripts vary. Some characters we can recognize easily, others only partially, and some we don't recognize at all. When parts are missing, we try to fill them in, but there are areas we don't fully understand."

Every leaf tells a story but only if it can be read.

So far, the team has successfully restored three leaves of the damaged manuscripts, but they are awaiting more advanced innovations to tackle the more severely damaged ones.

That's why digital preservation is also underway.

LENG BENKAI Assistant Curator, Cultural Relics Conservation Section, Potala Palace Administration "On one hand, we carry out high-resolution scanning to document all the inscriptions and texts found on the palm-leaf manuscripts. On the other, we use OCR technology to recognize the characters, followed by meticulous manual proofreading. Since palm-leaf manuscripts fall under the category of ancient documents, their content presents a significant challenge for us to decipher and study in the next stages of our work."

To date, the team completed cataloging and condition surveys for 465 volumes, a total of 29,400 leaves of palm-leaf manuscript relics.

They also organized and typeset illustrations from 37 volumes and carried out digital scanning of 244 volumes.

Their mission isn't just to repair these works, it's to pass them on.

Alongside the conservation work, local talent is being trained to do the same.

LENG BENKAI Assistant Curator, Cultural Relics Conservation Section, Potala Palace Administration "Through the implementation of our project, we hope to enhance the Potala Palace's capacity for ancient cultural relic preservation – from restoration techniques to digital and preventive conservation, as well as the interpretation and research of their historical value."

Researchers say the ancient documents housed in the Potala Palace reflect Xizang's long history and cultural spirit, serving as historical testimony to the diverse yet unified nature of Chinese civilization.

Preserving the palm-leaf manuscripts is about more than saving texts; it's about honoring a thousand years of cultural dialogue and spiritual devotion. And thanks to these silent guardians of the leaf, that legacy is alive and turning a new page.