Chen Yuan

Author: Liu Mengxi, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-10-01
Features: The historian Chen Yuan is often referred to alongside Chen Yinque as the "Two Chen Masters of Historiography." Chen Yuan dedicated significant effort to the study of religious history, historical documentology, and Yuan Dynasty history, achieving remarkable accomplishments with a rich body of works. He pioneered the fields of source criticism, taboo word studies, and textual criticism. This volume selects essays from his over twenty life-long works, including "A Study of the Christian Communities in the Yuan Dynasty" on the various Christian sects during the Yuan period, "A Study of the Influence of Chinese Culture on Foreign Cultures" on the impact of Chinese culture on foreign cultures, the seminal work on taboo word studies "Examples of Historical Taboo Words," the foundational work on textual criticism "Examples of Textual Criticism," the renowned work "Revelations on the Collected Edition of the Old Five Dynasties History," and the later representative work "Manifestations of the Annotations to the Zizhi Tongjian by Hu."
Chen Yuan (1880–1971), styled Yuan'an, was a native of Xinhui, Guangdong, and a modern historian of religious studies. In his early years, he participated in anti-Qing movements in Guangzhou. In 1907, he was admitted to the Boji Medical College run by American churches. In 1913, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives and remained in Beijing, engaging in historical research and education. From 1926 to 1952, he served as the president of Fu Ren University and Beijing Normal University. Throughout his life, he wrote nearly two hundred works on historiography and historical essays, becoming one of the pioneers in the study of Chinese religious history and conducting in-depth research on various religions. His major works on religious history include "A Record of the Doubts in the Buddhist Era," "A Study of Buddhism in Yunnan and Guizhou During the Late Ming Dynasty," "An Introduction to Buddhist Historical Literature in China," "A Study of the Christian Communities in the Yuan Dynasty," and "A Study of the New Road of Huayan Buddhism in Northern Hebei in the Early Southern Song Dynasty," among others.