Chen Yinque Collection: Second Collection of Jinming Hall Notes

Author: Chen Yinke
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: Professor Chen Yinke, throughout his life, upheld "freedom of thought and independence of spirit" as the moral compass of his academic career. With a prolific body of work that has left a lasting legacy, he pioneered a new realm in historical studies, and his personal charisma remains an inspiration to later generations. This book compiles lecture notes and other scattered historical manuscripts from Professor Chen's teaching career, 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 personal names, place names, and book titles not marked with symbols. Generally, standard characters are used, with a few variant characters retained.
Chen Yinke (1890–1969) was a native of Xiushui, Jiangxi. He studied in Japan and Europe, 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, and head of the group, as well as a member of the Board of Directors 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 Peking 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 Division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Collected Works of Chen Yinke, comprising thirteen volumes in fourteen books, include all of his available writings. Among them, Chanliutang Collection, Early Collected Works from Jinming Studio, Second Collected Works from Jinming Studio, Sketches on the Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions, Discussions on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty, Annotations on the Poetry of Yuan and Bai, and Biography of Liu Shilu (seven works) were previously published by Shanghai in the 1980s. This edition is based on the Shanghai version (with Sketches on the Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions and Discussions on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty reprinted from the 1957 edition of the China Association for Promoting Science and Education), with minimal changes in content. Chanliutang Collection has been supplemented with the "Unfinished Draft of Chanliutang: A Dream Unwritten (Supplement)." The poetry collection (Chen Yinke's Poetry Collection with the Collected Poems of Tang Yun, originally titled Chen Yinke's Poetry Collection with the Collected Poems of Tang Yun) and the first volume of Notes on Reading (Chen Yinke's Notes on Reading: Old and New Tang Books, originally titled Chen Yinke's Notes on Reading: Old and New Tang Books) were published by Tsinghua University Press and Shanghai in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively, and have been supplemented in this edition. The letter collection, Second Volume of Notes on Reading, Third Volume of Notes on Reading, and Lecture Notes and Miscellaneous Manuscripts are newly compiled.
The editorial style of the Collected Works is as follows:
1. Published works are retained in their original form. Revised works by the author are presented in their latest 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, errors, omissions, or misplaced text have been 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 without annotations.
3. Published essays, prefaces, and letters are accompanied by the original publication source and date. Unpublished manuscripts are annotated with estimated writing dates.
4. In accordance with the author's wishes, the entire book is typeset in traditional Chinese characters. Personal names, place names, and book titles 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 [ ], while explanatory text by the author is enclosed in ( ). Unclear text in original manuscripts is marked with □.
The publication of the Collected Works of Chen Yinke was guided by Mr. Ji Xianlin, Mr. Zhou Yiliang, and Mr. Li Shenzhi, and was supported by scholars and cultural figures at home and abroad. Here, we express our heartfelt gratitude to all friends who, supported, and participated in this work, and sincerely hope for the readers' constructive criticism and corrections.
Shenghuo·Dushu·Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore
December 2000