He is a legendary figure who has been a well-known historian, classical literature researcher, linguist and poet in modern China, and together with Ye Qisun, Pan Guangdan and Mei Yiqi, he has been listed as the four great philosophers in the century-old history of Tsinghua University.
He did not even have a strong diploma in his life, but the historian Fu Sinian said: "Mr. Chen's knowledge has only been one person in the past three hundred years." ”
one
In 1925, Tsinghua founded the Institute of Chinese Studies, with the intention of sorting out the national history and cultivating talents.
At the beginning of the establishment of the institute, the National College sought to hire four tutors, the first three of which were already in place: the first tutor, Wang Guowei, who pioneered the study of the history of Yin Shang with oracle bones. The second tutor, Liang Qichao, is the core figure of the Penghu Transformation, and the third tutor, Zhao Yuanren, a Chinese linguistics scholar who returned from Harvard.
Compared with these three, Chen Yinke's reputation is not so loud, but in order to recommend him as a mentor, Liang Qichao also had a verbal battle with the principal.
The four tutors of Tsinghua Guo college
The principal said: "Mr. Chen has no tomes, no doctorates, and is the tutor of Tangtangguo Academy, how can he not even have a title?" ”
Liang Qichao said: "Without academic titles and works, can't you become a professor at the National Academy?" Although my works are equivalent to each other, they add up to less than Mr. Chen's three hundred words of value. If such a person is not invited back, sooner or later he will be invited to a foreign university! ”
Tsinghua issued a letter of appointment.
two
Chen Yinke was born on July 4, 1890 in Changsha, Hunan Province, and his grandfather Chen Baozhen (陈宝箴), the governor of Hunan, was called "Hai Nei Qishi" by Zeng Guofan.
His father, Chen Sanli, a famous poet of the late Qing Dynasty, together with Tan Sitong, Xu Renzhu and Tao Jucun, was known as the "Four Princes of the Late Qing Dynasty", and his literary achievements were once known as the first person in modern China before Lu Xun.
When Chen Yinke was 9 years old, something big happened at home. Grandfather had a lofty vision and ambition for change, and together with Chen Father, he responded to the Peng shu change method.
After the failure of the change, the two were dismissed from their posts by the imperial court and never used. His father, Chen Sanli, has since stayed away from politics and placed his love on poetry: "Rely on the wind and clouds of the column to be a stand-in man of Shenzhou." ”
The second from the left is Chen Yinke. The old man in the middle was his grandfather
Chen Yinke's father, Chen Sanli
According to the theory, this is the family misfortune, but it did not expect to achieve Chen Yinke.
Chen Sanli did not want his son to take a scientific examination and seek meritorious fame, but only asked him to read the classics and lay a deep foundation for old learning.
Chen Yinke was only 13 years old, and he was sent to Japan to study, and he was exposed to Western culture because of his knowledgeable knowledge. Later, due to foot disease, he returned to China and studied at fudan new school, and soon became proficient in German and French.
Two years later, Chen Yinke graduated from Fudan Public School, boarded a cruise ship to the West, and began a 16-year study tour.
Group photo of the Chen brothers and sisters in 1896
The child picking flowers is Chen Yinke
A student once asked Tang Yun (Chen Yinke's wife): "Mr. Waichuan knows more than thirty kinds of characters, is it true?" Tang Yun said, "There are not so many, it is only seventeen kinds." ”
Since 1910, Chen Yinke has studied at the University of Berlin, the University of Zurich, the University of Paris, Harvard University, etc., mastering more than a dozen languages such as Sanskrit and Hebrew.
But in 16 years, he did not get a degree. It was as if the word diploma was just a piece of waste paper.
He said: "It is not difficult to take the Doctorate Examination, but in two or three years, being bound by a special topic, there is no time to learn other knowledge. As long as you can learn knowledge, it does not matter whether you have a degree or not. ”
At that time, how many students decorated the façade in order to obtain the title, read books to be opportunistic, easy to take refuge, and the knowledge in hand could not be discounted?
Chen Yinke did not look down on that kind of person at all, where there was a good university, where the collection of books was abundant, he would go to visit teachers, listen to lectures and research.
Chen Yinke is in Germany
Chen Yinke, who has a well-to-do family, never squanders, and everywhere he goes, it is less than half a year old and the bookcase is full.
When I first arrived in the United States, the purchase surprised the students: to study world history, they actually bought back dozens of huge volumes such as "Cambridge Modern History", "Cambridge Ancient History", "Cambridge Medieval History" published by the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
When he was studying in Berlin, life was very hard, and every morning, he bought a small amount of the cheapest bread, sat in the library for a day, and did not eat dinner all day.
In 1923, Zhao Yuanren and his wife went to Berlin, and when they saw Chen Yinke, they always called fried waist flowers at lunch. Later, in Tsinghua, Chen Yinke lived with Zhao Yuanren, and Zhao's wife Yang Buwei ordered the cook to make waist flowers, but Chen Yinke did not eat it. Yang Buwei felt very strange, "Don't you always call waist flowers to eat in Germany?" ”
Chen Yinke said: "Waist flowers are the cheapest in Germany!" ”
No wonder Yang Buwei later said to people: "At that time, most of the students in Germany were having a messy time, only Meng Zhen and Yin Ke were a pair of lions in front of the Ningguo Mansion. ”
three
In the winter of 1925, Chen Yinke arrived at Tsinghua. Before his lectures, the lecture notes were extremely meticulous, and each lesson was required to be more wonderful than the last time, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, with their hands on it, which was jaw-dropping, and many students could not understand his lessons at all.
Lan Wenzheng, who was admitted to the research institute in 1927, recalled: "Mr. Chen's speech, the students seemed to be very insufficient, when they were in class, they often could not understand, he wrote it out, oh! Only then do you know which is German and which is Sanskrit. ”
People who can understand it all feel that it is a kind of enjoyment. Ji Xianlin, a professor at Peking University, once recalled:
"Listening to Mr. Chen's lectures, such as peeling banana leaves, peeling more and more fine, peeling deeper and deeper, not arbitrary, not exaggerated, not distorted, constantly taking meaning, as if guiding us to walk on the mountain vagina, circling and twisting, the mountains are heavy and the water is repeated, the willows are dark and bright, and finally suddenly enlightened, leading us to the Yangguan Avenue."
The students did not understand it, but the professor came to listen to a lot. Zhu Ziqing, Gang and Tai privately wanted to go to his class schedule, and Wu Mi, the director of the research institute, was not wrong, and every lesson must arrive.
In 1929, after becoming a joint professor of the Chinese and history departments, Chen Yinke took classes in a small classroom, in addition to Tsinghua students, there were also Peking University students who took a car to listen, at that time, the two schools were far apart, along the way dozens of miles are full of farmland, there are often bandits haunting and looting, and it is impossible to stop students from seeking knowledge.
Because he was often able to dispel people's doubts, Tsinghua Garden regarded him as a "living dictionary", and many students found that their professors also loved to listen to his lessons, and finally honored Chen Yinke as "Tai Teacher".
Mr. Feng Youlan is a university student, his fame is much louder than Chen Yinke, and he is also respectful in front of Chen Yinke, admiring the depth of his knowledge.
Historian Zheng Tianting called him "professor of professors", and Fu Sinian, a master of classical literature studies, was even more amazed: "Mr. Chen's learning has only been one person in the past three hundred years!" ”
Chen Yinke once said to the students:
"I don't talk about what I've said before; I don't talk about what I've said in recent days; I don't talk about what foreigners have said; I don't talk about what I've said in the past. Now, I'm only talking about what no one has ever said. ”
The meticulousness and innovation of the lecture notes throughout his life, his lessons, always with new information to confirm the old news, or to find new understanding in common historical books. His disciples were inspired and benefited for life.
In 1933, a group of historians ate at the Toyo Bunko, and the Japanese historian Shiratori Kukichi was also present. The historian And Tian Qing suddenly took out a land title deed: "This is a relic of Hongguang at the end of the Ming Dynasty three hundred years ago." ”
Everyone read it in turn, sighing as a rare treasure. When it reached the hands of the Chinese scholar Lan Wenzheng, Lan said, "What is this bright thing, it is clearly something from the Guangxu period." This paper is thick and thick, obviously not open paper, and the format of the title deed is also the format common in the late Qing Dynasty. ”
Bai Bird listened, admired, and asked him if he knew Mr. Chen. Lan Wenzheng said, "That's my mentor." The white bird hurriedly got up: "Long time up." ”
Excavating and using original materials is one of Chen Yinke's principles.
He adhered to the tradition and experience of Qianjia scholars, emphasizing the use of original materials as a fulcrum for research.
At that time, the north China academic community was divided into two factions, one was the scholars trained in china, and the other was the study experience.
The localists believe that the foreigners do not understand the national conditions, and no matter how high their learning, they are also scratching their boots and cannot solve the Chinese problem.
The Liuyang faction felt that the local faction was too pedantic, too narrow-minded, and did not master the tools of modernization, so the two factions looked down on each other. But no matter which faction, no one dares to look down on Chen Yinke, which is legendary in academia.
shop
On July 7, 1937, the Anti-Japanese War broke out and Peiping fell. When the nation was in danger, his father Chen Sanli died of hunger strike.
Soon, the Japanese gendarmerie invited Chen Yinke to the headquarters as a guest: "If the gentleman stays to teach, the pension is rich." ”
Chen Yinke knew that if he refused, he would definitely be persecuted, but he could not die: "It is my responsibility to help China from the perspective of historiography. ”
So that his father's funeral was not yet completed, he quietly left Beijing and went to the Southwest United University. During the period of filial piety, national hatred and family sorrow surged forward, and the fire attacked the heart, causing him to peel off the retina of his right eye, and he had to undergo surgery immediately, but once the operation was done, he had to cultivate for a period of time. After some thought, Chen Yinke gave up the operation, and when he arrived at the Ungalace, his right eye could no longer be seen.
In the United Nations General Assembly, Chen Yinke often stood by candles, prepared lessons, wrote, and never slackened off because of the bad situation.
Due to his long work in the dim light, his vision in his left eye also dropped sharply soon after. Chen Yinke read books, and has always practiced the "ancient law", and the circle points, proofreading, and criticism are all in the books.
When Peiping fell, he sent his collection of classics to Changsha, only to be destroyed by Japanese artillery fire on the way, and the manuscripts later brought to the United Nations General Assembly were all destroyed, and all the previous research efforts were reduced to ashes.
In the absence of any information, Chen Yin was stunned by memory, in the thatched hut, sweating, sitting on a small bench, and wrote two huge works, "Brief Discussion on the Origin of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "Treatise on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty", which provided a classic paradigm for the historical research of later generations.
In 1939, Oxford University hired him as a professor, the first full-time Professor of Chinese nationality in the university's history.
Originally resigned twice, and then considered that britain could cure eye diseases, Chen Yinke agreed, and his family borrowed Hong Kong to prepare to cross the sea to London, but unexpectedly the European war suddenly arose, the navigation was interrupted, and the British trip was in vain.
In the summer of 1940, Chen Yinke went to Hong Kong again, because of the current situation, the matter of going to Britain was postponed for another year, at this time, Kunlun Pass was lost, there was no hope of returning to the United Nations Congress, Chen Yinke was blocked in Hong Kong, and he was in a dilemma.
The following year, the Pacific War broke out and Hong Kong fell. The Nationalist government sent planes to Hong Kong to "snatch" academic celebrities, but Chen Yinke was ruthlessly blocked by bodyguards.
It turned out to be the second miss of Finance Minister Kong Xiangxi, who loaded her own foreign dogs, sofas and even toilets into the cabin, leaving a group of academic celebrities with no way to go.
After the Japanese army entered Hong Kong, the living conditions of the Chen family were worrying, and all the letters, telegrams, and bills and exchange between them and the mainland were cut off, so that "the porridge was not enough, and it was difficult to get up in bed."
Soon after, Chen Bijun sent people to the Chen family, threatening and inducing, trying to persuade Chen Yinke to go to the Japanese puppet district as a university professor, Chen Yinke stomped the ground with his feet fiercely: "Please leave or not!" ”
The puppet Governor of Hong Kong also took out 200,000 military tickets to let Chen Yinke run the journal, but Chen Yinke again refused.
The Japanese army knew that the Chen family's life was hard, and sent a gendarmerie to send many bags of flour to the Chen family. The gendarmes moved inside, and Chen Yinke dragged them out, preferring to starve to death than to crush his eyebrows and bend his waist.
Crazy Confucian Liu Wendian has always respected Mr. Liu, whenever the Kunming alarm sounds, he runs fast, and he is known as" as follows: "I am running for "Zhuangzi", I am dead, no one will talk about Zhuangzi!" ”
If he saw Chen Yinke on the road, he commanded the students again: "There is nothing wrong with me dying, go and protect the essence of the country!" ”
Knowing that the Chen family was trapped, Liu Wendian shouted at the United Nations General Assembly: "If something happens to Mr. Chen, there will be no more such person in fifty years!" ”
Fortunately, Fu Sinian and a group of other people rushed away, and after Zhu Jiahua, president of the Academia Sinica, opened up all the links, Chen Yinke's family escaped from Hong Kong and returned to the mainland.
Subsequently, Chen Yinke went to Chengdu Yenching University to teach, under the dim light, focusing on academics as always.
In 1944, on a foggy and cold morning in Chengdu, Chen Yinke opened his eyes, but found that it was pitch black in front of him, and since then, he has not seen anything.
five
Chen Yinke's "do not surrender, do not yield", so that his old age is destined to be full of desolation and bitterness.
In 1958, his teaching career came to an abrupt end, and he was accused of being a feudal ethnoculturalist. Iron bones like him, immediately angrily resigned: "Resolutely do not start classes again, so as not to delay the youth!" ”
Turning back to the desk, with the help of his assistant, he wrote "Liu Ru is a Biography" and set up a biography for the fireworks woman, so as to advocate the integrity and wind and bone of being a person and governing school.
At that time, he was unable to move, his eyes were small, and he relied on himself to make a list of books, and the assistant read it to him, conceived it after listening, and then dictated it and recorded it by the assistant.
To write this 800,000-word biography, he worked an average of more than a dozen hours a day. In 1962, when Wu Mi came to see him, he was full of emotions:
"Liu Ru was a weak woman who leaned on the door and smiled, and on the occasion of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, she valued the righteousness of her family and country more than a five-foot man, and wanted to establish a biography for this strange woman who was scorned by the scholar, so as to commend our nation's 'independent thought and free spirit'! I wrote this book to weep bitterly for the ancients and leave them to the givers. ”
land
At 5:30 a.m. on October 7, 1969, Chen Yinke's heart failed and he died suddenly, and when he died, he did not leave a single word, but the corners of his eyes continued to cry. On the evening of November 21, his wife Tang Yun also followed her husband...
Mr. Ge Zhaoguang of Fudan once said:
"The three generations of the Chen family are the epitome of the fate of the cultural people in modern China, and the tradition of the cultural family is particularly strong in the three generations of this family; they are also typical of the cultural people resisting the fate in modern China, showing a traditional spirit of cultural nobility, a spirit of having their own truth, not sharing the dust with the customs and the light, and not doing the prince's noble deeds."
From his grandfather responding to the changes, to his father's death without enduring humiliation and hunger strike, to Chen Yin's unyielding will, the popularity of Chinese literati and the wind and bones have been vividly reflected in them.
There is a saying in "Leaving sorrow": "What remains in the heart is good, although it is nine deaths, it is still unrepentant." "In order to pursue the academic ideals of a lifetime, in order to achieve a clear ideological realm, Mr. Blind, lame, humiliated and not changed, how many people in the world can there be?"
Mr. Li does not cling, does not flatter, does not yield, with three hundred years of profound knowledge, throughout his life, aimed to build a free and independent academic world, not for the magnate and the atmosphere of the times to retreat, but scrupulous, with his scholarly backbone forged a spiritual monument.
Today, when future generations look up to this monument, when they reflect on themselves, what is integrity? What is Pride? What is independence?
Only by thinking about the losses of the present, the embrace of the gentleman, the so-called "independent spirit, free thought", can we stand for a thousand years without falling, and shine with the sun and the moon.
In order to commemorate Chen Yinke, Unity Publishing House recently published the "Collection of Chen Yinke's Works", and the first batch of four of his most classic works were launched: "Liu Ru is a Biography", "A Brief Discussion on the Origins of the Sui and Tang Dynasties System" And "A Treatise on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty", and "Yuanbai Poetry Notes".
This united version of the "Collection of Works of Chen Yinke" follows Mr. Chen's last wishes, adopts traditional vertical arrangement, elegant and generous design, and loose typography.
This set of works, whether it is treasured or read, is worth having a set.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="178" > Chen Yinke's collection of works (set of five volumes).</h1>
Original price: 255 yuan
Small editor special price: 168 yuan
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