In December 1953, Chen Yinke dictated a reply letter to the Academy of Sciences, rejecting the Academy's invitation to go north to serve in an unmistakable tone.
In his letter, he repeatedly expounded "the spirit of independence, the idea of freedom", and replied that he had read the original text of Capital in Switzerland in the third year of the declaration of reunification, that is, in 1911.
He did not oppose Marxism-Leninism, or, academically speaking, anyone's works have something to explore, and academic research has always spoken of facts and materials, as Chen Yinke has always done in his studies.
For Chen Yinke, a well-known figure in the Republic of China period, the inscription he wrote on Wang Guowei's tombstone is still erected on the Tsinghua campus.
This passage is even more popular. "The agnostic of the afterlife also, the writings of the sir, or sometimes the unsubscribed; The doctrine of the gentleman may sometimes be discussable, but this independent spirit, the free mind, has been worshipped for thousands of years, and has been with the heavens and the earth for a long time, and there are three lights and eternal light. ”
It seems to be written by his friend Wang Guowei, but in fact, Chen Yinke is telling his own heart.
In 1953, how many people could uphold the idea of academic independence and oppose the hiring of senior officials of the Academy of Sciences?
The Academy of Sciences established the Institute of History and decided to let Guo Moruo, Fan Wenlan and Chen Yinke serve as the directors of each institute. Chen Yinke directly declined. Such a spirit is no different from a thunderbolt on a sunny day for Guo Mo, who wrote a letter to invite him.
As a historian, Chen Yinke was one of the four great mentors of Tsinghua University in the early Republic of China, the other three being Liang Qichao, Wang Guowei, and Zhao Yuanren. He was fluent in more than twenty languages, and his "Brief Discussion on the Origins of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "Treatises on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty" all had a great impact on the academic research of later generations. In his later years, he was blinded and dictated , "Liu Ru is a Biography "Liu Ru is a Biography", the poetry and history are mutually corroborated, which is refreshing, and can be said to be the crystallization of Chen Yinke's lifelong governance.
Liang Qichao once commented that he said: I Liang Mou is a book, but the total number of works is not as valuable as Mr. Chen's few hundred words.
Fu Sinian once said: Mr. Chen's learning has only been one person in the past three hundred years.
The affirmation of these academic colleagues is naturally valuable.
Liu Wendian was proud all his life, and he also admired his learning and personality, he said, Chen Yinke deserves to get 400 wages, I can only get 40, while Shen Congwen can only get 4 or 4 cents.
Liu Wendian's evaluation of Shen Congwen was unfair, he was an academic and respected Chen Yinke. Shen Congwen is famous for his literature, and the literati are light, which can be seen.
Chen Yinke not only did a great job in his studies, but also gave lectures full of charm, once saying: "I don't talk about what my predecessors have said; I don't talk about what my neighbors have spoken; foreigners have spoken, I don't talk about it; I myself have spoken in the past, and I don't talk about it." Now I'm only going to talk about what no one has ever said. "Every time I go to class, the class is always full of students, and even some university teachers come to listen to the class, such as Zhu Ziqing and Feng Youlan.
Once for a freshman who had just entered Tsinghua University to go abroad for the examination, Chen Yinke came up with a pair, shanglian as "Sun Xinger", only one person got a full score, the answer was "Hu Shizhi", this person was Zhou Zumo, and later became a famous linguist, a professor at Peking University.
Chen Yinke is like a monument, his academic achievements are destined to be surpassed or discovered many deficiencies one day, but his spirit and his adherence to scholarship will always inspire future generations to continue to move forward.
Such a strong and independent genius soul cannot be overestimated; it is impossible to make up for the suffering he suffered in his later years.