When Elder Zhi Fahan of Dong'an Temple learned that Chen Caozhi had returned to Jiankang, he came from Tang Mountain to invite him to the temple to share in its blessings. Chen Caozhi asked him about printing sutras from carved blocks. Two years had passed since Zhi Fahan received Chen Caozhi's donation of a hundred gold pieces in the sixth month of the year before last, so there ought to have been some results. Zhi Fahan, however, kept them secret and merely smiled. "You will know when you reach our humble temple, Layman Chen."
Since envoys from Di Qin were coming to pay their respects to Huan Wen, Chen Caozhi had to remain in the capital to meet them. He now commanded not only military affairs in Ji Province, You, Bing Province, and Ping Province, but also those of Si Province on the southern bank of the Yellow River. His jurisdiction bordered Qin territory along its entire frontier, and he was the greatest barrier holding Di Qin in check-
Unable to return to Qiantang for the time being, and with the court's important affairs already settled, Chen Caozhi had considerable leisure. The celebrated gentlemen in the capital repeatedly invited him to pure conversation gatherings, but he declined them all. This greatly surprised them. Chen Caozhi had made his name through mysterious debate and pure conversation. Back then, he had single-handedly debated the Grand Zhongzheng of the Eight Provinces, astonishing everyone present with his talent. Sima Yu, then Grand Minister over the Masses, had promoted him to the second rank, and the Qiantang Chen Clan had consequently entered the rolls of the gentry clans. Even his marriage to a daughter of the Chen Commandery Xie Clan could be credited to metaphysical conversation. When Xie Daoyun had chosen a husband through pure