Chen Yinke
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Chen Yinke 陈寅恪 | |
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| Occupation | Historian, classical literature researcher, linguist, fellow of Academia Sinica |
Chen Yinke (Yinque) (Chinese: 陈寅恪, Pinyin: Chén Yínkè; 16 June 1890 - 7 October 1969) was a Chinese historian, researcher of classical literature, linguist, and fellow of Academia Sinica. His representative work is Biography of Liu Rushi.
Biography
Early life
Chen Yinke was born in Changsha, Hunan, with origin from Yining, Jiangxi Province (Xiushui County nowadays), in 1890. Yinke's father Chen Sanli was a famous poet, one of the Four Members of Hundred Days' Reform, and once the chairman of Sanjiang Normal School. At his youth, Chen Yinke attended a private school in Nanjing, and was once student of Wang Hang, a Sinology master. Benefited from his family's classical traditions, he was exposed to classical works of Confusianism, Chinese history and Chinese philosophy. In 1902 he went to Japan with his elder brother Chen Hengke to study at Hongwen School, where other Chinese students such as Lu Xun and Chen Shizeng were also enrolled the same year. In 1905 he was forced to return to China due to foot disease, to study at Fudan School, Shanghai. In 1910 He obtained a scholarship to study at Berlin University, and later at University of Zurich and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. In 1914 he came back to China due to World War I. In winter 1918 he got another official scholarship from Jiangxi Province to go study abroad again. He studied Sanskrit and Tripitaka at Harvard University under Charles Rockwell Lanman. In 1921, he went to Berlin University to study Oriental Paleography under Prof. Lueders, Central Asian Paleography under Max Müller, and Mongolian Language under Erich Haenisch. He acquired in his studies knowledge of Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu, Japanese, Sanskrit, English, French, German, Tripitaka, Persian, Turkic, Tangut script, Latin, and Greek. His mastery of Sanskrit and Tripitaka was particularly in depth. Xia Cengyou once said to him: "It is good for you to be able to read books in foreign languages. I know only Chinese so I have no more to read after finishing all the Chinese books."
Tsinghua period
In March 1925 he returned to China again, meanwhile Wu Mi was in charge of the Institute of Guoxue Studies, Tsinghua School. He accepted the invitation to become a supervisor at Institute of Guoxue Studies, together with Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao and Zhao Yuanren. In 1928 Tsinghua School was restructured to become Tsinghua University. Chen was employed as professor at Chinese Language and Literature Department and History Department, while also adjunct with Peking University. Chen married Tang Fen, granddaughter of Tang Jingsong, former governor of Republic of Formosa, in summer 1928. During this time he mainly gave lectures on Buddhist texts translation, historical documents of Jin Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and Mongolia. He also became adjunct member of Board of Academia Sinica, research fellow and director of Department 1 of The Institute of History and Philosophy, board member of National Palace Museum, member of Committee of Qing Dynasty's Documents. After the Second Sino-Japanese War began, Chen moved to National Southwestern Associated University, Kunming, Yunnan, teaching lectures on history of Jin Dynasty Southern and Northern Dynasties, history of Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, and poetry of Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi.
During the war
In 1939, Oxford University offered him a professorship in Chinese History. He left for Hongkong in September 1940 on his way to United Kingdom, but was forced to return Kunming due to ongoing battles. In 1941 he became a guest professor with Hong Kong University to teach history of Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. Since the Japanese occupation in Hong Kong began in the end of 1941, he conducted history research at home, which resulted in the writing of A Brief Introduction to the Political History of Tang Dynasty. In July 1942, Chen fled to Guilin to teach in Guangxi University, later in December 1943 he moved to Chengdu to teach in Yenching University. He became employed by Tsinghua University for a second time in 1946.
At Lingnan University
He began to teach at Lingnan University, Guangzhou in late 1948. As a result of a nation-wide restructure campaign across universities and colleges, Lingnan University was merged into Zhongshan University in 1952. Chen Yinke taught courses on history of Jin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, history of Tang Dynasty, and Yue fu of Tang Dynasty. In 1953 he started writing Biography of Liu Rushi, an in-depth investigation of the poetry and activities of Liu Rushi, a famous prostitute in late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. He finished this last major work in 1964, by then having been completely blind. He became vice president of Central Research Institute of Culture and History in July 1960.
During cultural revolution
Chen was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution due to his previous connection with the out-of-favor Tao Zhu. He and his wife's salaries were frozen by the Red Guards. For several times he was forced to write statements to clarify his political standings: "I have never done anything harmful to Chinese people in my life. I have been a teacher for 40 years, only doing teaching and writing, but nothing practical (for Kuomintang)". Many of his book collections and manuscripts were robbed. He died in Guangzhou on 7 October 1969.
Research ideology
In 1920s, Chen Yinke insisted that research should be of "thoughts of freedom, spirits of independence". In 1953 he was designated as head of the Second Department of Insititute of History Study in Chinese Academy of Sciences. He demanded two requests to be granted, in his "Reply to the Chinese Academy of Sciences" on 1 December. The first one was "the Institute of Mid-Ancient Chinese History be exempt from the doctrines of Marxism, as well as attending politics lectures"; The second one was "a letter of approval from Mao Zedong or Liu Shaoqi, as a shield". He explained that "Mao, the top political authority, and Liu, the top party leader, should have consensus with me on the matter, otherwise academic research would be out of the question."[1] He did not assume the position eventually, continuing working at Zhongshan University. The incident was not disclosed to the public until 1980s.
List of works
- Chen Yinke Wei Jin Nan Bei Chao Shi Yan Jiang Lu (Lectures on History of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties)
- Sui Tang Zhi Du Yuan Yuan Lue Lun Gao (A Brief Introduction to the Origins of Institutions of Sui and Tang Dynasties)
- Tang Dai Zheng Zhi Shi Lun Shu Gao (A Brief Introduction to the Political History of Tang Dynasty)
- Yuan Bai Shi Jian Zheng Gao (A Testifying on Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi's Poems)
- Lun Zai Sheng Yuan (On Zai Sheng Yuan)
- Liu Ru Shi Bie Zhuan (An Unofficial Biography of Liu Rushi)
- Jin Ming Guan Cong Gao Chu Bian (Writings on Jin Ming Guan, Vol. 1)
- Han Liu Tang Ji
- Chen Yin Ke Xue Shu Wen Hua Sui Bi (Essays on Chen Yinke's Academy and Culture)
- Chen Yin Ke Wen Ji (Collection of Chen Yin Ke)
- Chen Yin Ke Ji (Corpus of Chen Yin Ke)
- Jin Ming Guan Cong Gao Er Bian (Writings on Jin Ming Guan, Vol. 2)
Biographical references
- Wu Mi and Chen Yinke, by Wu Xuezhao, Tsinghua University Press, ISBN 9787302009740
- On Memories of Chen Yinke, by Zhang Jie and Yang Yanli, Social Science Academy Press, ISBN 9787801491589
- Analysis of Chen Yinke, by Zhang Jie and Yang Yanli, Social Science Academy Press, ISBN 9787801491596
- Chronicles of Chen Yinke (revised), by Jiang Tianshu, Shanghai Ancient Book Press, 1997
- The Last 20 Years of Chen Yinke, by Lu Jiandong, 陆键东，《陈寅恪的最后二十年》，Linking Press, 1997
- Biography of Historian Chen YinKe, by Wang Rongzu, Peking University Press
- Who Wanted to Come to Taiwan? By Li Ao
- On Chen Yinke, By Yu Dawei et al.
- Explanation and Argumentations of Late Chen Yinke's Writings, by Yu Yingshi, 1998
- Four Sirs in Late Qing Dynasty, by Gao Yang, Crown Press 1983
- The Family History of Chen Yinke, by Zhang Qiu Hui, Guangdong Education Press, 2000
Comments
- ^ <Reply to the Chinese Academy of Sciences>, dictated by Chen Yinke and noted by Wang Qian, 1 December 1953. Copy archived in Zhongshan University.
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