Photographed in 1988, the interior corridor of the Bei Lin Stone Steles Museum in Xi’an is lined with rows of carved stone tablets mounted against brick walls. Also known as the Forest of Stone Steles, the museum integrates these “stone books” into its architecture, preserving calligraphy and classical texts through inscription rather than print.

The photograph emphasizes repetition, structure, and material durability. Light, shadow, and receding columns lead the viewer through a space where knowledge is set in stone, linking scholarship, craftsmanship, and endurance across centuries.