Preservation characteristics and restoration core technology of palm leaf manuscripts in Potala Palace

Zhang, Meifang; Song, Xin; Wang, Junqi; Lyu, Xiaofang

doi:10.1007/s10502-021-09383-y

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Palm leaf manuscripts contained knowledge spanning various domains such as history, mathematics, literature, astronomy, art, and medicine. Valued for their historical, cultural, and relics significance, palm leaf manuscripts are considered precious world cultural heritage [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some scholars have conducted preliminary deterioration assessments and explored measures for the protection of palm leaf manuscripts [10]. Zhang et al [6,7], for example, investigated the types of damage, surface damage, and pH of palm leaf manuscripts at the Potala Palace in Tibet, as well as the deterioration of palm leaf manuscripts in different preservation environments. Singh et al [11] analyzed the composition of pigments in palm leaf manuscripts, improving our understanding of pigment usage in such manuscripts and providing fundamental data for preventive protection measures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the Deterioration State of Historical Palm Leaf Manuscripts from Burma

Chu,

Lin,

Tian

2023

Forests

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Palm leaf manuscripts were a prevalent literary medium from South Asia and Southeast Asia prior to the widespread use of paper. This study focuses on the analysis of historical palm leaf manuscripts from South and Southeast Asia. Sample palm leaf manuscripts from Burma were used as a case study; simulated palm leaf manuscripts were also created as a reference for comparison. The anatomy, chemical composition, and mechanical properties of the manuscripts were analyzed to find various forms of deterioration, including damage, fractures, pollution, acidification, and microbial deterioration. Specifically, the S1–S3 layers of the cell walls exhibited complete cracking, and the S2 layer showed numerous circular or nearly circular cavities caused by microbial erosion, while the middle lamella remained intact. The severe degradation of polysaccharides and pectin, accompanied by an increase in the relative content of lignin, caused the historical manuscripts to become more brittle. Additionally, the tensile strengths of historical palm leaf manuscripts were markedly reduced; their longitudinal tensile strength was significantly greater than their transverse tensile strength. This study can contribute to a better understanding of the deterioration process of historical palm leaf manuscripts and provide valuable insights for their restoration and preservation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the Deterioration State of Historical Palm Leaf Manuscripts from Burma

Chu,

Lin,

Tian

2023

Forests

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“…Our team conducted comprehensive investigations of the deterioration of palm leaf manuscripts preserved in the Cultural Palace Library of Nationalities in Beijing, the Fandian Palace in Shanghai, and so on. , In addition to the media damage of palm leaf manuscripts, the ink fading and flaking have been recognized as a significant form of deterioration (Figure b). Once the ink of palm leaf manuscripts peels off, the stored information will be lost permanently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As palm leaves are inherently organic, they are susceptible to decay during long-term storage. 8 Material research on palm leaf manuscripts primarily concentrates on analyzing their chemical composition, mechanical properties, and deterioration. For instance, Suryawanshi et al systematically investigated the composition of palm leaves.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the Mechanism of Ink Flaking from Surfaces of Palm Leaves (Corypha umbraculifera)

Lian,

Yu,

Han

et al. 2024

Langmuir

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Palm leaves are the primary literary support in South and Southeast Asia before the widespread use of paper. However, palm leaf manuscripts face the threat of information loss due to the persistent issue of ink flaking during long-term preservation. Herein, we focus on studying the botanical structure, surface properties, and surface composition of palm leaves to gain an insightful understanding of the mechanism of ink flaking. According to the surface energy analysis, the surface of palm leaves is dominated by the dispersive component due to the presence of hydrophobic substances, resulting in the weak interaction between the handwriting and palm leaves. Moreover, the accumulation of silicon on palm leaves creates a "cuticle-silicon double layer", leading to a dense structure that hinders deep ink absorption. These two main reasons are considered to cause the ink flaking easily, which is further proven by the ink flaking test with the simulated palm leaf manuscripts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-depth technical study on the adhesion performance of handwriting on plant leaves. This work also provides a theoretical basis for the study of the deterioration, adhesive repair, enhancement of flexibility, handwriting reinforcement, and beyond, which contributes to the conservation of precious palm leaf manuscripts.

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“…Current scholarly efforts primarily concentrate on collecting, cataloguing, photocopying, and craft inheritance, with a paucity of research dedicated to the degradation and restoration of PLMs [6,7]. Zhang et al [8,9] investigated the surface pathologies, acidification, and degradation of ancient PLMs from the Potala Palace in Tibet, China, and compared the deterioration of the PLMs under different preservation conditions. However, due to the precious nature of these cultural relics, the research was mostly limited to macro-scale observations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Analysis of Aspergillus niger isolated from ancient palm leaf manuscripts and its deterioration mechanisms

Chu,

Lin,

Tian

2024

Herit Sci

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Palm leaf manuscripts (PLMs), venerable historical artefacts containing Buddhist scriptures, history, mathematics and literature, which are carried by palm leaves (Corypha umbraculifera) and are highly susceptible to microbial degradation during prolonged storage. This degradation results in significant alterations to both the appearance and material properties of PLMs, but the precise mechanism underlying this deterioration remains a mystery. To this end, the present study focused on ancient PLMs from Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. The objective of present study was to isolate, culture and identify the microorganisms typically found in these manuscripts and to use them to biodegrade the carriers of PLMs. Detailed observations of the biodegradation behavior of these microorganisms on the carriers of PLMs were carried out, together with characterizations of the hierarchical structure and mechanical properties of the leaf fiber cell walls. This comprehensive analysis provided insights into the deterioration mechanisms of the carriers of PLMs. The study revealed the presence of the common fungus Aspergillus niger on ancient PLMs. Aspergillus niger can secrete cellulase, lipase, and acidic substances after colonizing on the carriers of PLMs. These substances sequentially damage the carrier's epidermal cells, mesophyll cells, and leaf fibers, leading to the separation of different tissue structures. At the molecular level, the lipids on the surface of the leaves were degraded initially, and sequential depolymerization of hemicellulose, amorphous cellulose, and crystalline cellulose occurred. Additionally, this study firstly applied nanoindentation technology in the research of PLMs. The mechanical properties of the cell walls underwent notable alterations due to the modifications in chemical and crystalline structure of the carriers of PLMs upon the biodegradation of Aspergillus niger. Specifically, the hardness and elastic modulus of leaf fiber cell walls showed an initial increasing and then decreasing trend, consistent with the trend of cellulose crystallinity, which also provided a new reference for assessing the degree of deterioration of PLMs.

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Preservation characteristics and restoration core technology of palm leaf manuscripts in Potala Palace

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Evaluation of the Deterioration State of Historical Palm Leaf Manuscripts from Burma

Evaluation of the Deterioration State of Historical Palm Leaf Manuscripts from Burma

Revealing the Mechanism of Ink Flaking from Surfaces of Palm Leaves (Corypha umbraculifera)

Analysis of Aspergillus niger isolated from ancient palm leaf manuscripts and its deterioration mechanisms

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