Forest of Stone Steles Museum, a courtyard-styled structure, is situated on the site of the Confucian Temple on Sanxue Street, Xi’an. It served as the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and later became the Confucian Temple in the Song Dynasty. In 1950, it was extended into the museum that greets us today. One many wonder why its two gates are facing east and west respectively instead of facing south as most of the traditional ones. As a matter of fact, all Confucian temples are opened east and west. The East Gate is referred to as the Gate of Courtesy, while the West Gate, the Gate of Righteousness.
The Forest of Stone Steles was originally set up in 1087. The treasure house comprises a large collection of centuries-old stone steles. Over 3,000 stone steles from the Han Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty are preserved. The museum houses numerous stone steles, which look like a dense forest; hence its name the “Forest of Stone Steles.” The Forest of Stone Steles is not only a treasure house of ancient Chinese calligraphy, but also a rich collection of historical documents and stone carvings of various styles.
The steles bear evidence to the cultural achievements recorded in ancient China and the cultural exchanges between China and other countries. No tourists will take the risk of missing the Forest of Stone Steles, once they visit Xi’an.
This place initially served to store the stone classics of the Tang Dynasty, including the “Classic on Filial Piety” in the handwriting of Emperor Xuan Zong in 745 and the “Kaicheng Stone Classics” engraved in 837. They were originally erected inside the Imperial Academy (in the area of Wenyi Road, south of the urban district) in the Tang Dynasty. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen forced Emperor Zhao Zong to move the capital to Luoyang and then brought Chang’an down to ruins. Han jian, commander-in-chief of the garrison, reduced the size of the city for the sake of defense. As a result, the “Stone Classics” were abandoned in the suburban wilderness. Later on, Han jian moved the Imperial Academy and the Classic on Filial Piety into the Confucian Temple (on the Shehui Road, Western Street, Xi’an) in the urban district.
In 909 A.D., when Liu Xun defended Chang’an, he moved the Kaicheng Stone Classics from the suburbs into the Confucian temple, which became the first place to store the stone steles of the Tang Dynasty. Because of its low-lying location and poor environment, which were not fit for stone classics, all the stone classics and important stone steles of the Tang Dynasty were relocated to the present place in 1087 A.D. Owing to poor lighting and constant rubbing, the stone steles became very black, people used to call this place “a dark cave” or “a cave of stone steles.”
A great earthquake took place across Central Shaanxi in 1555 A.D. The Forest of Stone Steles suffered serious destruction. Out of the 114 Kaicheng Stone Classics, 40 fell down and lay broken. In 1588, Ye Shirong, a scholar of Shaanxi, supplied the missing characters and carved them onto 97 small stone steles. They were then placed here to supplement the stone classics. Therefore, “Kaicheng Stone carvings” could be kept in their complete form as “a book of stone carvings”. In addition, the “Book of Mencius” was engraved onto stone steles in 1664.
It was not until the early Qing Dynasty that the “Forest of Stone Steles” was officially named. It now houses over 3,000 stone steles from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. The stone steles are now on display in seven display rooms, six epitaph corridors and one tablet pavilion.
The Forest of Stone Steles was declared a top-priority national historical monument by the State Council in March, 1961.
In front of the firs display room is the Tablet Pavilion specially built for the “Classic on Filial Piety.”
“The Classic on Filial Piety” is the largest stone tablet in the Forest of Stone Steles. It was engraved after the handwritten copy of Emperor Xuan Zong (Li Longji) in 745A.D. The classic was compiled by Zeng Shen, a disciple of Confucius, after he attended his teacher’s lecture on filial piety. Emperor Xuan Zong wrote a preface to the classic in the hopes that the country would be governed on the principle of filial piety. The preface is followed by the body of the classic. The small characters are Emperor Xuan Zong’s annotations to the classic. The stele is set on a three-layer base, with vivid carvings of trailing plants and lions. The upper part is decorated with clouds and auspicious animals in bas-relief. The tablet is made up of four pieces of stone, and a base under it, therefore it is literally called the “Stone-base Classics on Filial Piety”
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