A large quantity of Tibetan Buddhist scripture blocks[Photo/Sichuan Daily]

Sichuan Province has officially started with the application for the Dege Buddhist Scripture Printing House to be included in the World Intangible Cultural Heritage primary list on Nov. 24, Sichuan Daily reported.

The Dege Buddhist Scripture Printing House is located in Dege County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China’s Sichuan Province. According to the director of the printing house’s Cultural Relic Bureau Chong Zha, it was built in 1729 by the 12th generation of the Dege chieftain. Covering an area of 5,450 square meters, the building features traditional Tibetan architectural style with a dense beam and flat roof, which shows the superb artistry of Tibetan Buddhist architecture. The 1000-square-meter ancient mural, inside and outside the scripture hall, represents the highest artistic achievement and stylistic features of the "Karma Gazi" school of painting. Experts believe that the printing house has met the criteria for applying for the world cultural heritage as it "represents a unique artistic achievement, a masterpiece of creative genius".

The most precious items in the printing house are the 320,000 pieces of scripture blocks of Tibetan classic Canon and the large number of Tibetan painting blocks, carved with the "Tibetan engraved block printing technique", which have already been included in the United Nations "Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage". They contain more than 70 percent of Tibetan cultural classics, including Buddhist scriptures, medicine, philosophy, astronomy and calendars and others. This collection ranks first in terms of quantity and variety among China’s three major printing houses in the Tibetan-inhabited areas.

Chong Zha said that the storehouse has been given a complicated and painstaking anti-corrosion and anti-cracking treatment. After nearly 300 years, all the treasures have not been eroded by insects or deformed and they are still in use today.

In 1996, the Dege Scripture Printing House was included in the fourth batch of key cultural relics under state protection.