Suzhou Museum of Inscribed Stone Tablets

Suzhou Museum of Inscribed Stone Tablets is located at Suzhou Confucious’ Temple and Prefectural School in Jiangsu Province,  which is a Special Topic Museum that combines collection, research, exhibition and reprography of ancient inscriptions. Suzhou Confucious’ Temple and Prefectural School enjoys a history of over 980 years, which was reputed as “The Leader of Southeast Academic Palaces”, “the Crown of Jiangnan Schools”. The existing Confucious’ Temple covers 15,000 m2, and the total building area is over 3,757 m2. In 1981, the Suzhou Municipal people’s Government allocated funds to reconstruct the Confucious’ Temple and established the Museum of Inscribed Stone Tablets in the former address.

In Dec. 1986, Suzhou Museum of Inscribed Stone Tablets was formally opening to the outside world. There were 7,437 cultural relics being collected in the museum (as of the end of 2017), including 1,192 precious cultural relics, 4 first grade cultural relics, 261 second grade cultural relics and 927 third grade cultural relics.

According to the first batch of key cultural relics’ protection units published by the State Council in 1961. The most representative cultural relics being exhibited by the Suzhou Museum of Inscribed Stone Tablets include “Four Inscribed Stone Tablets of Song Dynasty” (namely, Pingjiang Map, Celestial Map, Geographic Map, Imperial Emperor Auspicious Map inscriptions) and “Suzhou Industrial and Commercial Economy Inscriptions of the Qing Dynasty”. The famous cultural relics sites such as “Incorruptibility Carved Stone”, “Auspicious Carved Stone” and “Ancient Ginkgo Tree” in the museum.

In Oct. 2018, the Suzhou Museum of Inscribed Stone Tablets was rated as the National Grade II Museum.