Although the reputation of the Forest of Steles Museum is not as good as that of the Shaanxi History Museum and the Xi'an Museum, its collection is rich and the connotation is profound. The Forest of Steles Museum is a thematic museum, which specializes in collecting, displaying and researching ancient steles, epitaphs and stone carvings. From the first batch of steles moved here in the Northern Song Dynasty to the official name of Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum in 1993, its formation and development spanned more than 900 years, and gradually became the largest stele museum and calligraphy art holy place in the country.

The museum covers an area of 31,900 square meters, mainly composed of three parts: the Confucian Temple, the Forest of Steles and the Stone Carving Art Room. The museum has a large number of collections, large volumes, and specialized categories. There are seven exhibition rooms, seven stele galleries and eight stele pavilions in the museum, with a total collection of more than 10,000 cultural relics, displaying more than 1,000 kinds of stele epitaphs, including 134 national treasure-level cultural relics. Each stele here originates from the two Han Dynasty in the era and ends in the Republic of China, and the content covers all aspects such as history, religion, culture, geography, etc., and is also true, grass, subordinate, and seal in the art of calligraphy. The first and second rooms are dominated by stone tablets from the Tang Dynasty, and the third room displays precious steles of various calligraphy styles in the past dynasties, containing the development and evolution of Chinese calligraphy art. The fourth room is mainly to display the poetry and literary works of famous artists of various dynasties after the Song Dynasty, and visitors can observe the staff rubbing the inscriptions in the fourth room of the Forest of Steles, and can also buy rubbing works in the fourth room of the Forest of Steles.

The most eye-catching thing in the Stele Forest Square is the Filial Piety Pavilion, which stands in the treasure of the town hall - the stone platform of filial piety carved during the reign of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It was the first to be moved into the Forest of Steles, and it is the largest and most unique stele among many steles, and it is also one of the rare national treasure-level cultural relics in the Forest of Steles Museum. The stele crown, the stele body, the stele base share 35 pieces of boulder combination, the stele is more than two meters high, and because the stele takes the filial piety scripture and the annotation written by Tang Xuanzong Li Longji as the template, it is named "Shitai Filial Piety Sutra".

The Daxia stone horses on the left and right sides of the halberd gate of the museum and the Jingyun Bell of the Tang Dynasty are both treasures of the town hall and are also national treasures. The Jingyun Clock hangs in the pavilion and was once the clock of the Xi'an Bell Tower. The inscription on the bell was written by Tang Ruizong, and it was moved to the Forest of Steles Museum in 1953 for preservation. The stone horse standing opposite it was made during the Great Xia period of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and is one of the few cultural relics in China with the age of Great Xia.

The Stele Forest Museum is relatively small and slightly dilapidated from the outside of the courtyard, but the scenery inside and outside the museum is beautiful, and it has the feeling of a garden. There are ginkgo, French sycamore, locust tree, etc. planted in the square, and the ginkgo biloba leaves are yellow in autumn, which complements the green leaves of the locust tree on the side. The ancient pagoda stands among the trees, and the dark red tower is dotted with yellow and green leaves, which weakens the old-fashioned sense of the museum. Outside the museum is the former site of the Confucius Temple in Xi'an, the shape is rigorous and generous, and the momentum is magnificent. Panchi is an indispensable landmark building in the Confucian Temple, built for the Yuan Dynasty, in a semicircle, connected with the Panshui Bridge. The small bridge flows water, which is quite elegant.

The east side of the stele forest storage room is the stone carving art exhibition room, and the Buddha statue exhibition hall on the basement floor is often ignored by tourists. The museum collects the stone carvings of Buddha statues scattered all over Shaanxi, and places more than 70 kinds of stone carvings and artworks such as round carvings and reliefs from the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. The exhibition hall is solemn and solemn, but the Buddha statues are mostly incomplete, the Buddha's head and body are lined up in a row, and each Buddha statue has traces of destruction, or man-made, or natural disasters. The disfigured Buddha heads are placed in rows, and the number is shocking.

Audio guides are available for rent at the halberd gate, and docents can also be hired to give explanations. The docents in the museum are well-trained and professional, and the explanations are in place and interesting in the face of the lifeless stone monuments, so that many tourists who have no interest in the stone monuments and history can also understand the charm of the stone monuments. The fly in the ointment is that the loudspeaker used by the docent is quiet, so you need to listen closely, so it is recommended that you form a group of five or six people to ensure that you don't miss the explanation.

The visitor flow of the Forest of Steles Museum is far less than that of the Shaanxi History Museum, and compared with the crowding of the Shaanxi History Museum, the Forest of Steles Museum is much more comfortable in terms of viewing experience. Although the stele is rigid, the history contained in it is still vivid. In the Forest of Steles, you can not only learn about history, but also stroll under ancient trees such as ginkgo biloba and locust trees, which is a good place to relax.

Duration: 1 hour ~ 2 hours

Reference ticket price: 75 yuan in peak season, 50 yuan in low season; 100 yuan for the explanation of 6 people and 30 yuan for the audio guide

Opening hours: 8:00~18:00, extended in summer and autumn, ticket sales close 45 minutes before closing

Tips: 1. Bring cash and ID card, rent an audio guide only in cash, and detain the ID card as an exchange;2. With Xi'an Museum, Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum tickets can enjoy an 8.5% discount on the Stele Forest tickets