Forest of Stelae Museum

Xi'an

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Housed in Xi'an’s Confucius Temple, this museum holds more than 1000 stone stelae (inscribed tablets), including the nine Confucian classics and some exemplary calligraphy. The highlight is the fantastic sculpture gallery (across from the gift shop), where animal guardians from the Tang dynasty, pictorial tomb stones and Buddhist statuary muster together. To reach the museum, follow Shuyuan Xiang east from the South Gate.

The second gallery holds a Nestorian tablet (AD 781), the earliest recorded account of Christianity in China. (The Nestorians professed that Christ was both human and divine, for which they were booted out of the church in 431.) The fourth gallery displays a collection of ancient maps and portraits, and rubbings (copies) are made here, an absorbing process to observe.

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