A museum in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has launched examinations of a group of ancient stone tablets.

The 114 tablets, which have a collection of Confucian works carved on them, are national-level cultural relics and are housed in Xi'an Beilin Museum in the provincial capital.

A total of 650,000 characters are engraved on the tablets.

The tablets were completed in 837 during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and were important reference documents for academics in ancient times, according to Zhang Anxing from the museum.

The museum said the tablets will be examined and repaired before they are moved to a new exhibition hall. An indepth examination including 3D, X-ray and ultrasound scans will be carried out to collect data required to repair any damaged tablets.