Stele Forest, History museum in Beilin District, Xi'an, China

The Stele Forest, in Beilin District, Xi'an, occupies the former Confucian temple and prefectural school, with seven exhibition halls, six corridors and eight stele pavilions. It holds nearly 3,000 steles and much carved stone, from Han to Qing. The core is two groups of Tang stones: the 114 Kaicheng Stone Classics, engraved 833–837 with over 650,000 characters, and the Stone Platform Classic of Filial Piety.

The collection grew from two groups of Tang stone texts: the Kaicheng Stone Classics, 114 stones engraved with twelve Confucian classics between 833 and 837 under Emperor Wenzong, and the Stone Platform Classic of Filial Piety. After the Tang fall the stones were moved within the reduced city and installed at the prefectural school in 1087, the event treated as the museum's foundation. The 1556 earthquake broke many steles; governor Bi Yuan began repairs in 1772. It became a national protected site in 1961 and took the name Xi'an Beilin Museum in 1992.

The name Beilin, "Stele Forest", came into use in the early Qing dynasty. The Kaicheng Stone Classics, engraved 833–837, fill 114 stones with over 650,000 characters of twelve Confucian classics. Calligraphy by Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Huaisu and Liu Gongquan survives here as carved stone, and the 781 Xi'an Stele carries Chinese and Syriac text.

The museum is open daily, and visitors should wear comfortable shoes since there are multiple courtyards and paths to explore throughout the complex. Visiting early in the day is recommended to view the inscriptions more comfortably with fewer crowds.

The museum houses the famous Nestorian Stele from 781, which records the early presence of Christianity in China through inscriptions in both Chinese and Syriac. This rare artifact demonstrates how different religions and cultures connected during the Tang Dynasty.