28 Facts About Chen Yinke

Chen Yinke, or Chen Yinque, was a Chinese historian, linguist, orientalist, politician, and writer.

Chen Yinke was a fellow of Academia Sinica, considered one of the most original and creative historians in 20th century China.

Chen Yinke knew many languages; he was well-versed in Sanskrit and Pali, and had an understanding of various other languages including Mongolian, Manchu, Persian, English, French, German, Latin, Greek, and Japanese.

Chen Yinke was born in Changsha, Hunan in 1890, and his ancestral home was Yining, Jiangxi.

Yinke's father Chen Sanli was a famous poet, one of the "Four Gentlemen" of the Hundred Days' Reform.

Chen Yinke's grandfather was Chen Baozhen, the governor of Hunan between 1895 and 1898.

Chen Yinke's family had a distinguished tradition in classical learning, so he was exposed from an early age to the Chinese classics, to history, and to philosophy.

Chen Yinke studied Sanskrit and Pali at Harvard University under Charles Rockwell Lanman.

Chen Yinke acquired a knowledge of Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu, Japanese, Sanskrit, Pali, English, French, German, Persian, Turkic, Tangut, Latin, and Greek.

Chen Yinke accepted the invitation to become a supervisor at Institute of Guoxue Studies, together with Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao and Zhao Yuanren.

Chen Yinke was employed as professor at Chinese Language and Literature Department and History Department, while adjunct with Peking University.

Chen Yinke married Tang Yun, granddaughter of Tang Jingsong, former governor of Republic of Formosa, in summer 1928.

Chen Yinke became adjunct member of Board of Academia Sinica, research fellow and director of Department 1 of the Institute of History and Philology, board member of National Palace Museum, member of the Committee of Qing Dynasty's Documents.

Chen Yinke left for Hong Kong in September 1940 on his way to United Kingdom, but was forced to return Kunming due to ongoing battles.

Chen Yinke became employed by Tsinghua University for a second time in 1946.

Chen Yinke had a degenerative eye condition and lost his vision during the 1940s.

Chen Yinke began to teach at Lingnan University, Guangzhou in late 1948.

Chen Yinke taught courses on history of Jin dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, history of Tang dynasty, and yuefu of Tang dynasty.

One of Chen Yinke's major texts was An Extended Biographer of Liu Rushi, which recorded Liu's involvement in the anti-Manchu resistance movement.

In 1953, Chen Yinke declined an offer to lead Beijing's newly-established Institute of History.

Chen Yinke became vice president of Central Research Institute of Culture and History in July 1960.

In 1962, Chen Yinke was injured after falling down and disabled as a result.

Chen Yinke was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution due to his previous connection with the out-of-favor Tao Zhu.

Chen Yinke died in Guangzhou on 7 October 1969 for heart failure and sudden bowel obstruction.

Political and academic debate of Chen Yinke's legacy contributed to a surge of interest in Chen Yinke and his life in the Sinophone world beginning in the early 1980s and contributing to the 2000s.

In 1995, Lu Jiandong's book The Last Twenty Years of Chen Yinke prompted major debate about Chen in the Chinese public sphere.

Similar melodramatic narratives of Chen Yinke were published in newspapers, magazines, and by the popular press.

Chen Yinke's legacy has significantly shaped the self-conception of Chinese liberal intellectuals.