About 1,000 monks and nuns in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region have initiated a signature campaign to express love for the country and religion.

They signed their names on Monday at monasteries of counties in Shannan Prefecture, resolving to comply with law and dharma, choose right from wrong, advocate harmony and pursue peace.

The number of participants exceeded 80 percent of the total registered monks and nuns in the prefecture, said Dawa Tsering, head of the prefecture's Buddhism association, organizer of the event.

"A Buddhist should never forget himself or herself as a votary for the Buddha, and should take it as responsibility for well-beings of the religion, the human beings and the country," said Dawa Tsering who led the signature-signing at Samye Monastery, in Chanang County.

Losang Khedrup, a monk with the monastery said, "We voluntarily signed our names to better promote the tradition of loving our country and our religion."

Built more than 1,000 years ago, Samye Monastery was the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet and the birthplace of the Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Since the beginning of 2010, the central government has earmarked nearly 80 million yuan (12.7 million U.S. dollars) to repair the ancient site.

Located nearly 200 km from the capital of Lhasa, Shannan Prefecture is dubbed the origin of the Tibetan ethnic group, with numerous monasteries in the prefecture.