Inheritance in White Deer Plain

You only truly hold the reins when everyone listens to you.

Bai Jiaxuan, as the clan elder of White Deer Village, arranged for his son Bai Xiaowen to study the classics thoroughly and taught children in the ancestral hall. This was paving the way for him—it was classic succession planning.

By first building the ancestral hall, Bai Jiaxuan established a physical sacred space in the village; by erecting the stele and teaching villagers the classics free of charge, he built their spiritual sacred center. With both physical and spiritual sanctuaries established, he then positioned his son Bai Xiaowen as headmaster, ensuring the next generation of villagers would naturally become his students. Heaven, Earth, the Sovereign, Parents, and Teachers—can you now appreciate the depth of Xiaowen’s father’s苦心 (苦心)?