Guihai Stele Forest Museum 桂海碑林博物馆

About Guihai Stele Forest Museum

The carved texts include poems, names and political writing, turning the rock face into a record of people who visited and used the place. One named example, Longtu Meigong Zhangshuo, uses the language of disease to criticise corrupt conduct. Look at the placement and style of the writing as well as the explanations beside it.

In the Song dynasty, Longyin Rock (龙隐岩) already held the Shijia Monastery (释迦寺). A hall for storing steles, the Cangbei Pavilion (藏碑阁), was built on the monastery's ruins in 1964 and the site was opened as the Guihai Stele Forest in 1965. The institution took its present name, Guihai Stele Forest Museum, in 1997, after being known successively as the Guihai Stele Forest Exhibition Hall (桂海碑林陈列馆), the Guihai Stele Forest Stone Carving Exhibition Hall (桂海碑林石刻陈列馆) and the Guilin Stone Carving Museum (桂林石刻博物馆).

The museum stands at the southwestern foot of Yueya Hill (月牙山), where the Longyin Rock and Longyin Cave (龙隐洞) cliff carvings preserve 213 inscriptions, including works from the Tang dynasty to the Republican era and thirty-two undated pieces. One example is the Song-dynasty Yuanyou Party Roster (元祐党籍).

The cliff carvings of Longyin Rock and Longyin Cave became a Guilin Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit (桂林市文物保护单位) on 4 February 1961, a Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Cultural Relics Protection Unit (广西壮族自治区文物保护单位) on 26 February 1963, and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) on 25 June 2001. The museum was designated a national second-level museum (国家二级博物馆) in May 2009.

What to look for

• Longyin Rock and Longyin Cave preserve inscriptions on the natural limestone surfaces.
• The named Longtu Meigong Zhangshuo carving adds a specific piece of political writing to the wider collection.

Location & getting there

Getting to Guihai Stele Forest Museum

The museum is at 1 Longyin Road, Qixing District, just inside Seven Star Park’s southwestern entrance near Longyin Bridge. Confirm the museum and park entry arrangement at that gate.