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Home → China Travel Guide → Xi'an Travel Guide → Top 10 things to do in Xi'an - Forest of Stone Steles Museum Xian

Forest of Stone Steles Museum Xian

Xi'an Forest of Stone Tablets was originally built in 1087. The Forest of Stone Steles in Xi'an holds a big collection of steles in China. It is a classical courtyard styled structure at the site of former Confucian Temple in Sanxue Street, Xian, close to the south gate of Xi'an City Wall. The museum has an area of over 30,000 square meters. It is one of the centers of ancient Chinese stone-engraving classic. It is also the center of the works of art of noted calligraphers of past dynasties. The numerous standing steles likens a forest, hence the name " Forest of Steles"'. With a history of over 900 years, it is an art treasure well known at home and abroad.

These pieces of art are works dating from the Han Dynasty through to the Qing Dynasty with over 1,000 memorial tablets forming the Forest of Stone Tablets. Xi'an Forest of Stone Tablets is more than a treasure house of ancient Chinese calligraphy. It is also a big collection of China's historical documents and records and stone carving patterns. These tablets keeps a record of some of the large achievements of Chi- nese culture. It can show us today the truth of the cultural intercourse among China and other countries. It is a shame that tourist will miss the Forest of Stone Tablets if they travel Xian.

The Xl'an Forest of Stone Tablets was born out of the place where the stone classics in the Tang Dynasty were kept. The so called stone classics during the Tang Dynasty included the "Classic of Filial Piety" in the handwriting of Emperor Xuan Zong in 745 A.D. and the "Kaicheng Stone Classics" engraved in 837 A. D.. These stone classics were originally erected inside the Imperial An- cestral Temple (in the vicinity of Wenyi Road, southern suburbs, Xi'an) in the Tang Dynasty. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen forced Tang Zhao Zong to move the capital to Luoyang and de- stroyed Chang'an City almost completely, bringing it down to ru- ins. Han Jian, commander--in--chief, reduced the size of the city for the purpose of easy defence. As a result, the stone classics were abandoned in the wild suburbs, Later on, Han Jian was the first to move the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Classics of Filial Piety into Confucian Temple (along the Shehui Road, western street, Xi'an) inside the city prop

Transport: bus 23 40 221 222 302 309 402
Open time: Daily 9:00am to 5:30pm;
Admission RMB: 30 per person