The Suzhou Stele Inscription Museum is a local professional museum that collects, displays, researches and exhibits inscriptions and rubbings. It is located in the Fuxue Confucian Temple in Sanyuanfang, Renmin Road, Suzhou, and is adjacent to Canglang, the oldest existing garden in Suzhou. The pavilion faces east and west and was officially opened to the outside world in July 1985. The Fuxue Confucian Temple was founded by Fan Zhongyan in the second year of Jingyou (1035) in the Northern Song Dynasty when he was the governor of Suzhou County. It has a history of 960 years. After successive expansions and renovations, it occupies a very large area and has many buildings. It is known as "the first academy in the southeast". -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Suzhou in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was One of the few metropolises in the country, it is home to thousands of merchants and prosperous shops, and its handicraft industry ranks first in the country. These industrial and commercial economic inscriptions provide many precious historical materials for studying the social and economic history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and even the early years of the Republic of China, especially for examining the emergence of capitalism in China, and have attracted the attention of Chinese historians. Suzhou has a long history, rich humanities and developed culture. Its famous inscriptions are the best in the south of the Yangtze River. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there have been many famous steles passed down from generation to generation, which are characterized by large number, wide content, complete categories, beautiful calligraphy and painting, and exquisite carvings. Therefore, Suzhou has unique conditions for establishing a stele museum.
Suzhou Stele Museum is located at the former site of the Confucian Temple on Renmin Road in Suzhou City, across the street from Canglang Pavilion. Nowadays, it has become a vast world of stele inscriptions, with more than 1,000 stele stones of various types hidden in it. The 223 economic inscriptions displayed in the complex corridor are first-hand materials for studying the emergence of capitalism in Suzhou during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The main hall, Dacheng Hall, is 7 rooms wide and 6 rooms deep. It has double eaves and four roofs. It has a platform in front and is surrounded by stone railings. It has a rigorous structure and is spacious and grand. It is a precious Ming Dynasty palace in the south of the Yangtze River. Rubbings of Suzhou inscriptions are displayed in the hall, divided into four categories: figures, history, monuments, and calligraphy, reflecting Suzhou's long history and splendid culture.