Jinming Library Manuscripts, Volume II

Author: Chen Yinque
Publisher:
Publishing Date: July 1, 2001
Features: Professor Chen Yinque, throughout his life, regarded "freedom of thought and independence of spirit" as the moral compass of his academic career. With a vast body of works, his legacy has benefited later generations, opening up a completely new realm in the study of history. His personal charisma remains an inspiration to posterity. This book collects his lecture notes and other scattered historical manuscripts from his teaching years, marking the first time they are published. In accordance with his wishes, the entire book is printed in traditional Chinese characters in vertical layout, with names of people, places, and books not marked with symbols. Generally, standard characters are used, with a few variant characters retained.
Chen Yinque (1890–1969) was a native of Xiushui, Jiangxi. He studied in Japan and Western countries early in his life, attending the University of Berlin in Germany, the University of Zurich in Switzerland, the école Normale Supérieure in France, and Harvard University in the United States. In 1925, he was appointed as a tutor at Tsinghua School's Research Institute and returned to China to teach. Later, he served as a joint professor at the Department of Chinese and History at Tsinghua University, concurrently holding positions such as member of the Academia Sinica, researcher at the Institute of History and Philology, director of the group, and member of the Palace Museum. He was later elected as an academician of the Academia Sinica. After the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident" in 1937, he took his family south from Beijing and taught at Southwest Associated University, the University of Hong Kong, Guangxi University, and Yanjing University. In 1939, he was elected as a corresponding fellow of the British Royal Society. From 1942, he was appointed as a professor by the Ministry of Education. In 1946, he returned to Tsinghua University to teach. In 1948, he moved to Guangzhou and became a professor at Lingnan University. From 1952, he taught at Sun Yat-sen University. After 1955, he also served as a member of the Committee of the Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Collected Works of Chen Yinque, comprising thirteen volumes in fourteen books, include all of his extant writings. Among them, Collected Works from Hanliutang, Early Drafts from Jinming Pavilion, Second Drafts from Jinming Pavilion, Sketches on the Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions, Outlines of Tang Political History, Annotations on Yuan Bai Poetry, and Biography of Liu Shiyi were published by Shanghai Guji Press in the 1980s. This edition is based on the Shanghai Guji Press version (with Sketches on the Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions and Outlines of Tang Political History reprinted from the 1957 edition of Sanlian Bookstore), with minimal changes in content. Collected Works from Hanliutang has been supplemented with the unfinished draft "Memoirs of Hanliutang (Unfinished Draft, Supplement)." Poetry Collection (originally titled Chen Yinque's Poetry Collection with Tang Yun's Poems) and First Collection of Reading Notes (originally titled Chen Yinque's Reading Notes on the Old and New Tang Books) were published by Tsinghua University Press and Shanghai Guji Press in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively, and have been supplemented in this edition. The Correspondence Collection, Second Collection of Reading Notes, Third Collection of Reading Notes, and Lecture Notes and Miscellaneous Manuscripts are newly compiled.
The editorial style of the entire collection is as follows:
1. Published works are retained in their original form. Revised works by the author are presented in their final revised versions. Unpublished manuscripts are primarily transcribed based on the author's handwriting.
2. All published and unpublished works in this collection have been proofread. Discrepancies in style or errors in text are corrected. Citations are generally verified against current annotated editions, such as the Twenty-Four Histories and Zizhi Tongjian. For historical sources without annotated editions, standard editions are used for verification. A few authorial comments or discussions targeting the original versions are retained in their original form in citations, without annotations.
3. Published essays, prefaces, and letters are accompanied by the original publication source and date. Unpublished manuscripts have their writing dates noted as much as possible.
4. In accordance with the author's wishes, the entire book is typeset in traditional Chinese characters. Names of people, places, and books are not marked with symbols. Standard characters are generally used, with a few variant characters retained. When content is added for readability in citations, the added text is enclosed in [ ], and authorial explanatory notes are enclosed in ( ). Unclear text in original drafts is marked with □.
The publication of The Collected Works of Chen Yinque was guided by Mr. Ji Xianlin, Mr. Zhou Yiliang, and Mr. Li Shenzhi, and received warm assistance from scholars and cultural figures at home and abroad. Here, we sincerely thank all friends who have, supported, and participated in this work, and sincerely hope for the criticism and corrections of the readers.
Shenghuo · Dushu · Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore
December 2000