Once word of the scholarly debate at the White Tiger Daoist Grounds spread, it shook the entire scholarly world of Jingchu.
Liu Zhao and Liu Tan were both celebrated scholars of their day, and each would represent his own school in a public debate.
The outcome would determine who controlled Jingzhou's official academy, and was also regarded as the best proof of the relative merits of the New-Text and Old-Text versions of the Book of Documents.
This was a momentous event among Confucian scholars, a grand gathering the academic circles of Jingzhou had seldom seen in many years.
Students, scholars, teachers of the classics, and learned masters from commanderies and counties near and far hurried to pack their bags and ready their carriages, traveling day and night toward Jingzhou City.
On the day of On Learning, the White Tiger Daoist Grounds were packed beyond capacity!
All three hundred seats prepared in advance were occupied!
Countless more people stood all around!
The Daoist priests had long since withdrawn to the rear compound and shut their doors. Confucian scholars occupied the entire grounds, their greetings, bows, and discussions of scholarship filling every corner.
As one of the principal parties in On Learning, the Commandery Academy had a reserved wooden pavilion due south of the central square.
After Liu Zhao took his seat with several instructors and his disciples, visitors came in an unending stream to pay their respects, including many old friends and fellow scholars.
Liu Zhao also tirelessly introduced Wang Yang to the visitors, who exchanged names, greetings, bows, and pleasantries with him. Repeating the whole sequence of formalities again and again was no easy task. During a brief lull, Wang Yang looked toward the Wang Academy's seats opposite them, where the stream of visitors was equally relentless. Amid his own