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Charmaine Yu

Could merely glimpsing a 357-year-old Buddhist manuscript really grant you seven lifetimes of good fortune?
An old Chinese folk belief regarding the Tibetan Dragon Canon has recently been revived on social media as the monumental Qing dynasty (1644-1911) scripture takes pride of place in “Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief and Art in a Golden Age”, an exhibition at Taipei’s National Palace Museum.
While it is impossible to trace the origin of the qishi fubao – good karma for seven lifetimes – myth, it has exploded into a viral phenomenon. Some of those who have been to the exhibition even claim they sensed a powerful energy and got goosebumps in the text’s presence.
The monumental 108-volume manuscript was completed in 1669, two years after it was commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor (1654-1722) at the behest of his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuangwen (1613-1688), who asked her grandson to make her a gold-inked collection of all of the Buddha’s teachings, or sutras, recognised in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.

Each 33cm by 87.5cm (13-inch by 34-inch) volume features 300 to 500 pages of ciqing paper, a deep-indigo-dyed paper often used for religious symbolism, on which sutras were written in sparkling gold ink.
With its ornate details – from the lacquered covers, etched with transliterated Sanskrit mantras and decorated with bejewelled, polychrome-painted icons, to the embroidered yellow wrappers in which the volumes are dressed – the Tibetan Dragon Canon required vast financial investment and the work of countless master artisans and 171 lamas recruited from Mongolia and Tibet, according to Qing records.
The entire project’s production cost over 371,000 taels (19 tonnes) of silver, which was spent on materials such as the gold ink used to write the Tibetan script. According to Qing records, it was believed the gold would never fade, and the paper’s plant properties would help it remain untouched by the ravages of time and insects.
Today, it is widely considered one of the most magnificent and best-preserved Kangyur – Buddha’s recorded teachings – ever made, and befitting of one of the most powerful and politically astute Chinese empresses of all time.

Some historians believe that Xiaozhuangwen, who was of Mongol descent, may have intended the text as a metaphorical bridge to bind the religious and political fates of the Manchu and Mongol elites together through a shared reverence for imperial virtue.
However, when the Tibetan Dragon Canon was completed, it was housed at the Empress’ residence – the Cining Palace – within China’s Forbidden City, which was off-limits to any man who was not a eunuch. This supports an alternative theory that the text was made for private prayers rather than as a public political statement.
In Buddhism, hand-copying sacred texts is a deeply spiritual act that helps one accumulate spiritual credit, and word of the Tibetan Dragon Canon’s good-karma-for-seven-lifetimes power has recently spread online.
Even a rumour that disgraced former Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian asked for a private viewing of the text just before he stepped down in 2008 – and the fact that it did not save him from subsequently being jailed for corruption – has not dampened the fervour.

The Taipei exhibition – where many of the volumes are shown together – is an opportunity to experience the manuscript’s magnitude. The exhibition’s second rotation is open to visitors until November 8, with bookings available via the museum’s reservation site.
Part of the Tibetan Dragon Canon has been a cornerstone of the permanent collection of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in Chiayi, Taiwan, since it opened in 2015.
While only a single volume of the text is displayed at the Southern Branch at any given time, it is “just as powerful”, the museum has claimed on social media.

And when the Southern Branch’s second building is completed in 2028, all 108 volumes will be permanently moved there and housed in a state-of-the-art transparent vault, allowing the public unprecedented views of the text in its entirety – and many lifetimes of blessings, for those who believe in the myth.
“Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief and Art in a Golden Age”, National Palace Museum, 221, Sec 2, Zhi Shan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan. Exhibition Halls 103 and 104. Until November 8, 2026.


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A gold-inked manuscript from the Tibetan Dragon Canon, which is on show as part of the “Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief and Art in a Golden Age” exhibition at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum until November 8, 2026. The 357-year-old text has recently gone viral for apparently granting those who view it seven lifetimes of good karma. Photo: NPM

The imperial preface to the Tibetan Dragon Canon, written by the Emperor Kangxi. Photo: NPM

One of the bejewelled protective boards of the Tibetan Dragon Canon. Photo: NPM

One of the 108 scripture wrappers with seven dragon motifs woven with gold and velvet threads made for the Tibetan Dragon Canon. Photo: NPM

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One of the red-lacquered outer protective boards of the Tibetan Dragon Canon. The boards bear inscriptions of Buddhist mantras. Photo: NPM

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The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze


The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze.


The 357-year-old Buddhist text in Taiwan said to bring lifetimes of luck with one glimpse

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze

The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze