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Brief: This article covers the West Lodge Debates under Southern Qi. Prince Xiao Ziliang hosted a scholarly circle including Zu Chongzhi, who calculated pi precisely. Skeptic Fan Zhen challenged Buddhist karma with On the Annihilation of the Spirit, sparking a landmark faith–reason clash. It captures a rare golden age of southern culture and thought.
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Fan Zhen (c. 450–c. 510 CE) was a prominent materialist philosopher of the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties during the Southern Dynasties period. His courtesy name was Zizhen, and he was a native of Wuyin, Nanxiang Commandery (in present-day northwestern Biyang County, Henan).