page_title: Stele Forest
hierarchical_section_title: Stele Forest
caption_attribution_description: English: An ink rubbing of one of the calligraphy stela at the Beilin Museum in Xi'an, called the "God of Literature Pointing the Dipper." It depicts the figure, made up of the characters describing the four Confucian virtues, standing on the head of the ao (鰲) turtle (an expression for coming first in the imperial civil service examinations), and "pointing the dipper (斗)" (another expression with the same meaning). 中文: 魁星獨佔鰲頭
context_page_description: The Stele Forest or Beilin Museum is a museum for steles and stone sculptures in Beilin District in Xi'an, China. The museum, which is housed in a former Confucian Temple, has housed a growing collection of Steles since 1087. By 1944 it was the principal museum for Shaanxi province. Due to the large number of steles, it was officially renamed the Forest of Stone Steles in 1992. Altogether, there are 3,000 steles in the museum, which is divided into seven exhibitions halls, which mainly display works of calligraphy, painting and historical records.
context_section_description: The Stele Forest or Beilin Museum is a museum for steles and stone sculptures in Beilin District in Xi'an, China. The museum, which is housed in a former Confucian Temple, has housed a growing collection of Steles since 1087.  By 1944 it was the principal museum for Shaanxi province. Due to the large number of steles, it was officially renamed the Forest of Stone Steles in 1992. Altogether, there are 3,000 steles in the museum, which is divided into seven exhibitions halls, which mainly display works of calligraphy, painting and historical records.
caption: An ink rubbing of one of the calligraphy stela at the Beilin Museum in Xi'an, called the "God of Literature Pointing the Dipper." It depicts the figure, made up of the characters describing the four Confucian virtues, "pointing the dipper" (an expression for coming first in the imperial civil service examinations).
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