The Suzhou Stele Museum is a professional museum in China. It is across the street from the Canglang Pavilion. Now it has become a vast world of steles, with a total collection of more than 1,000 various steles. The 223 economic steles displayed in the double corridor are the first-hand materials for studying the sprouts of capitalism in Suzhou during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The main hall, Dacheng Hall, has seven bays in width and six bays in depth. It has a double-eaved hip roof and a front platform surrounded by stone railings. The structure is rigorous and spacious, and it is a precious Ming Dynasty hall in the south of the Yangtze River. Inside the hall, rubbings of Suzhou steles are exhibited, divided into four categories: figures, history, historical sites, and calligraphy, reflecting Suzhou’s long history and splendid culture. The basic exhibitions of the museum include: ‘Exhibition of Confucius Cultural Stone Inscriptions’, ‘Exhibition of Five Eras of Calligraphy Art through the Ages’, ‘Exhibition of Industrial and Commercial Economic Steles of Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty’, ‘Exhibition of Agricultural Economic Steles of Ancient Suzhou’, ‘Exhibition of Stele Inscriptions of Astronomical Map, Geographical Map, Imperial Succession Map and Pingjiang Map’, ‘Exhibition of Confucianism Steles’, ‘Exhibition of Image Steles’, etc. Among them, the ‘Exhibition of Stele Inscriptions of Astronomical Map, Geographical Map, Imperial Succession Map and Pingjiang Map in the Song Dynasty’ and the ‘Exhibition of Industrial and Commercial Economic Steles of Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty’ are representative. Inside Dacheng Hall, there is an ‘Exhibition of Rubbings of Suzhou Historical Stele Inscriptions’, which exhibits hundreds of rubbings, divided into four categories: historical figures, scenic spots and historical sites, Wu Zhong literature, and calligraphy art. Among them, there are many rare and unique copies. The inscription of the ‘Stele at the Shinto of Han Shizhong’s Tomb’ is more than 13,900 characters long. The stele is majestic and the number of characters in the inscription is rare in China. The image steles include portraits of Confucius and his seventy-two disciples, portraits of Bai Juyi, Su Dongpo, Hai Rui, Wen Zhengming, Gu Yanwu, Zhang Taiyan, etc., which are very precious. The ‘Canglang Pavilion Picture’, ‘Ruiguang Tower Picture’ and other scenic spots and historical sites, as well as Lu Ji’s ‘Pingfu Tie’ of the Jin Dynasty, and the manuscripts of the Three Sus (Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Zhe), Zhu Yunming’s cursive script, Wen Zhengming’s running script, etc. are all calligraphy treasures. There is a corridor of steles of modern calligraphy celebrities. On the south wall, there is a corridor of epitaphs unearthed in Suzhou through the ages. Opening hours: Open from Tuesday to Sunday all year round from 09:00 to 16:30; Closed all day on Monday all year round; Open from 09:00 to 20:00 on New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day. Closed on Monday (except for national holidays).
Suzhou Stele Museum
The Suzhou Stele Museum is a professional museum in China. It is across the street from the Canglang[...]
