The Suzhou Stele Museum is a specialized museum in China, facing the Canglang Pavilion across the street. It has now become a vast collection of steles, housing over 1000 pieces of various types of stone inscriptions.
The 223 economic steles displayed in the corridor are primary materials for studying the sprouts of capitalism in Suzhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The main hall, Dacheng Hall, spans seven bays in width and six bays in depth, with a double-eave roof and a quadrangular top. It is equipped with a moon platform in front, surrounded by stone railings. The structure is rigorous and spacious, making it a precious Ming dynasty hall in the Jiangnan region.
Inside the hall, there are exhibits of Suzhou stele rubbings, categorized into four types: characters, history, historical sites, and calligraphy, reflecting the long history and brilliant culture of Suzhou.
The basic exhibitions of the museum include: ‘Confucius Cultural Stone Carving Exhibition’, ‘Historical Calligraphy Art Exhibition from the Fifth to the Present’, ‘Qing Dynasty Suzhou Industrial and Commercial Economy Stone Carving Exhibition’, ‘Ancient Suzhou Agricultural Economy Stone Carving Exhibition’, ‘Astronomical Chart, Geographical Chart, Emperor’s Succession Chart, Pingjiang Chart Stone Carving Exhibition’, ‘Confucian Studies Stone Carving Exhibition’, ‘Image Stone Carving Exhibition’, among which the ‘Astronomical Chart, Geographical Chart, Emperor’s Succession Chart, Pingjiang Chart Stone Carving Exhibition’ from the Song Dynasty and ‘Qing Dynasty Suzhou Industrial and Commercial Economy Stone Carving Exhibition’ are representative.
Within Dacheng Hall, there is a ‘Suzhou Historical Stele Rubbing Exhibition’, displaying hundreds of rubbings divided into four major categories: historical figures, famous scenic spots and historical sites, Wu Zhong literature, and calligraphy art, many of which are rare editions. Among them, the ‘Han Shi Zhong Tomb Spirit Path Stele’ has an inscription of over 13,900 characters, making the stele and the number of characters on it rare in China.
The image steles include portraits of Confucius and his seventy-two disciples, Bai Juyi, Su Dongpo, Hai Rui, Wen Zhengming, Gu Yanwu, Zhang Taiyan, and others, which are very precious.
Famous calligraphy treasures include ‘Canglang Pavilion Chart’, ‘Rui Guang Pagoda Chart’, and other famous scenic spots, as well as the ‘Ping Fu Tie’ by Jin Lu Ji, the handwriting of the three Sus, Zhu Yunming’s cursive script, and Wen Zhengming’s running script.
There is a modern calligraphy celebrity stele corridor, and on the south wall, there is a corridor of tombstone inscriptions unearthed from Suzhou throughout the ages.
The museum is open all year round from Tuesday to Sunday from 09:00 to 16:30; it is closed all day on Mondays; during New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day, it is open from 09:00 to 20:00, except for Mondays (national holidays are an exception).
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