Suzhou Confucian Temple and stone diagrams of the Song Dynasty are located on No.613, Renmin Road, Suzhou City. In 1961, the stone diagrams including the “Map of Pingjiang District”, “Astronomic Map”, “Geographic Map” and “Emperors of all times” in Suzhou Confucian Temple were listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the State Council of China in 1961. In 2001 Suzhou Confucian Temple and its stone diagrams were together listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level by the State Council of China.
The Prefectural School at Suzhou Confucian Temple, with a long history of more than 980 years, was established by Fan Zhongyan, a famous official and scholar of the Song Dynasty, in the second year of Jingyou (1035) Period of Northern Song Dynasty. In the plan layout, the temple is divided into two parts, the east of which is a temple while the west is a school. In the temple, Lingxing Door, Ji Door, Dacheng Hall and Chongsheng Shrine are still survived, while in the school there is Pan Pool, Seven Star Pond and Minglun Hall. All the main buildings face to south. The Prefectural School was known as the best university of southern Yangtze River in history, with important buildings survived from history like Lingxing Door, Ji Door, Dacheng Hall, Chongsheng Shrine, Seven Star Pond and Minglun Hall. Most of these buildings are style of Ming Dynasty. Dacheng Hall is the main portion of Suzhou Confucian Temple. Supported by 50 Phoebe zhennan pillars, it is seven-house wide and six-house deep with a total area of 600 square meters. The temple occupies 15000 square meters with a total building area of 2000 square meters.
In 1981, the People’s Government of Suzhou appropriated funds to repair the temple, and set up the Museum of Inscribed Steles on site of the old temple at the same time. In December of 1986, the Suzhou Museum of Inscribed Steles was opened to the public.
