The Stele Forest began with the "Kaicheng Shi Jing Steles" () and "Shitai Xiao Jing Steles" (), two groups of steles both carved in the Tang dynasty and displayed in the temple to Confucius and the Imperial College in Chang'an, capital of the empire. In 904, a rebel army sacked Chang'an, and the steles were evacuated to the inner city. In 962, they were returned to the rebuilt temple. In the Song dynasty, a special hall with attached facilities was built to house and display the two stele groups. It was damaged in the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake during the Ming dynasty. In 1936, famous Chinese calligrapher Yu Youren donated his entire collection of more than three hundred rubbings from steles to the Xian Forest of Stele Museum. It became a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 1961 and thus survived the Cultural Revolution.