He has no reputation, but he was once a classmate of Lu Xun, and his academic attainments were widely respected and admired by celebrities such as Wu Mi. He doesn't have a degree, but he has studied in Germany, France, the United States and other countries and is familiar with twenty or thirty languages, including Mongolian. He has no works, but Liang Qichao, who is almost equal to his works, said that all his works are not as valuable as his hundreds of words.
Under the strong recommendation of Wu Mi and Liang Qichao, Chen Yinque officially joined the National Studies Institute, and since then, the "four great tutors" of Tsinghua National Institute have become a highlight in the academic history of China.
Son's son, professor's professor.
Chen Yinque's academic success is not only his own efforts, but also his good family background and cultural circle. My grandfather was Chen Baozhen, an enlightened governor who supported the political reform, and my father was Chen Lisan, one of the "four sons of the late Qing Dynasty". In such a family environment, Chen Yinque grew up in a scholarly family and is definitely called "the son of a son".
After the death of his grandfather Chen Baozhen, Chen Yinque's family moved to Jinling, Jiangsu. At that time, his father Chen founded Siyi School directly at home. The school not only hired Wang Bo, Liu Yimou and other masters of Chinese studies to teach, but also has a novel school-running style. Chen and his teachers agree that there are "two prohibitions", one is no corporal punishment, and the other is no death endorsement.
Because of the strong cultural atmosphere at home, there are many returnees at home on weekdays, which gives Chen Yinque the opportunity to "learn Japanese from friends studying in Japan" before studying in Japan. In the next few decades, Chen Yinque was able to travel among eastern countries, broaden his horizons and accumulate knowledge. These learning opportunities and experiences also laid a very good foundation for his future academic career.
Xia Cengyou, a famous historian, once said to Chen Yinque when talking with him, "It's good that you can read foreign books. I can only read China's books. I have finished reading them, so I have nothing to see. " It can be seen that during the Republic of China, the opportunity to study abroad was more difficult and precious than it is now. Chen Yinque's knowledge, through ancient and modern times, through China and the West, is thorough knowledge.
But it is such a knowledgeable person who has never had a diploma in his life. Regarding the diploma, he once said that it is not difficult to get a doctorate, but he is more concerned about leaving time for other broader knowledge, rather than spending two or three years on a certain topic just to get a diploma. It is Chen Yinque's way to study, to ask questions, not to seek a degree, from which we can see the indifference and purity of his spiritual world.
Shortly after teaching at the National University of Ren Qinghua, he became the only "part-time professor" in the Chinese Department of Tsinghua University at that time. While teaching in Tsinghua, Chen Yinque was directly called "Professor's Professor" by teachers and students. Because there are not only students in his class, but also professors from Tsinghua and many famous scholars.
In his class, you may meet Professor Wu Mi, philosopher Feng Youlan or famous essayist Zhu Ziqing, who was then the director of the Institute. They would sit quietly at the back of the classroom and listen to him talk about Tang Shi, Sanskrit grammar and all the grand and mysterious literary history.
His research scope covers philosophy, literature, history, ancient science and other fields in "Chinese studies". In addition, he has made great achievements in the history of nationalities, religions and Dunhuang studies in the western regions.
Mr. Hu Shi once wrote in his diary: "The history of Yin Kezhi is of course the most knowledgeable, knowledgeable and useful person today." Fu Sinian, a famous historian, is even more excited: "Mr. Chen's knowledge has only been one person for nearly 300 years." It can be seen that in terms of the breadth and depth of academic attainments, Chen Yinque is a "master of Chinese studies".
Independent spirit, free thinking
The cross motto "independent spirit, free soul" was originally written by Chen Yinque for Wang Guowei, but it wandered around 75 years later and became Mr. Wang's own inscription.
Chen Yinque once said: "The spirit of independence and free will must be fought, and life and death must be fought." Mr. Wang said so and did the same. Although Chen Yinque is now called "three generations of officials", he has nothing to do with politics. In his eyes, only academics, in his world, only people are created equal.
1953, the Central Committee for Historical Research decided to set up three historical research institutes in Chinese Academy of Sciences: ancient, medieval and modern. At that time, the central government considered asking Chen Yinque to be the director of the Institute of Medieval History. In this regard, Chen Yinque's condition turned out to be "allowing the Institute of Medieval History not to engage in Marxism-Leninism and not to study politics". Moreover, he did not mention this condition to himself personally. He asked all researchers in the Middle Ages to be allowed to do so.
It looked bold at the time, but it wasn't over. He even asked the state leaders to issue him a certificate. In Mr. Wang's own words, this was a "shield", which was a bold "specialization" requirement at that time, but Chen Yinque did not feel wrong. His confidence comes entirely from his loyalty to academic purity.
In his later years, Chen was not only blind, but also bound in other aspects, but he never gave up his pursuit of academic freedom. He spent nearly ten years dictating, and his assistant recorded the 850,000-word masterpiece Liu Chuan.
Many people don't understand why a generation of masters of Chinese studies spent so long in their later years making biographies for a prostitute in history. Some people even think that Chen Yinque "writes books only to sing red makeup".
But for Chen Yinque, Liu is a woman with strong feelings of home and country and strong cultural awareness. She is proficient in poetry and can talk about the current situation with celebrities. When Nanjing was broken, she even dared to drown herself and die for the Ming Dynasty. Facing the political situation at that time, Chen Yinque can only cross time and space to accuse the present era and pursue his national spirit for fear of losing it.
As Professor Cai Hongsheng of Sun Yat-sen University commented: "In fact, it is from Mr. Chen Yinque's sense of cultural mission that he' finds weeping willows and withered orchids, and depicts traces of residual mountains and water'."
What is a "master of Chinese studies"? You should be loyal to your heart and your knowledge, that is, the flow of "moral articles" in which literature and character are integrated. There is no prestige, no books, no diploma, as the saying goes, "People have no self, gods have no power, and saints are nameless". Why bother to seek such a hollow reputation?