Chen Yinke is a famous master of traditional Chinese studies in modern China, who has been listed as one of the four great philosophers in the century-old history of Tsinghua University together with Mei Yiqi and others, and has taught in many famous universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University and Southwest United University. His belief was "independent spirit, free thought", and he insisted on "four no-talks", so he was very happy to create academic ideas that had not appeared in history.
However, this trait has aroused the criticism of some people, including Gong Pengcheng, a famous scholar and thinker in contemporary China. He believes that Chen Yinke's fame is much higher than his academic level, which belongs to a state of artificial high, and said that even the examination evidence in his academic research is upside down, not to mention the value of academic achievement itself. Why was Chen Yinke, a well-known figure in modern history, criticized by the up-and-coming generation? Let's take a look.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >1, fame does not represent learning</h1>
There is no doubt that Chen Yinke is indeed a generation of popular figures in the academic community, and he has attracted the admiration of people of different ages and different classes with his erudition and excellent moral character. Even Zhu Ziqing, Gang hetai and others personally went to listen to the courses he taught, which can be said to be very well-known.
However, Gong Pengcheng commented that Chen Yinke's fame is inflated and has nothing to do with learning, most of which comes from blind academic worship and many accidental factors. Why did he say that? The reasons are as follows: As a scholar with high prestige and academic accomplishment, he must not only have profound knowledge, but also have good practical ability.
However, Chen Yinke claimed that he knew dozens of languages, but he did not apply this extremely high talent in language to academic creation, and there was no translation or academic creation of works in the corresponding language. Even if sanskrit is occasionally used to study ancient historical materials, it is only attached to er, and there are no breakthrough results. If a scholar is full of knowledge but cannot make an effective output, it is not credible and unhelpful.
Secondly, Chen Yin adheres to the academic principle of "four noes", which also reflects the same characteristics in his personal creation. In Gong Pengcheng's view, Chen Yinke specifically looked for some remote places to do relevant research, because it was cold, so no more people could make appropriate evaluations and accurate judgments, so they only built on his past fame to blindly worship him.
Examples include the following, Chen Yinke's research is mainly on the history of Chinese and foreign cultural transportation, the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In his middle age, he created professional works on historiography in this field, such as the "Brief Discussion on the Origins of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and the "Yuanbai Poetry Notes". Too cold, and in the middle of the cold to explore the cold, no one knows whether you are right or wrong.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >2, too many conclusive considerations</h1>
As a senior outstanding scholar, the most basic academic quality is to discuss with facts and figures, supplemented by logic. Scholars cannot talk nonsense at will, because academic creation is an extremely strict thing. If a scholar's research appears as a wild "fantasy", then he will be subjected to very severe criticism.
Gong Pengcheng criticized Chen Yinke, criticizing him for having too many evidences in his academic research that did not pay attention to facts and logic, and that those were simply untenable. Gong Pengcheng's reasons are as follows: Chen Yinke has senselessly related Tang novels to the Guwen movement.
As a school of criticism, when examining the Tang legend, he said that its heyday was caused by the Jinshi Wen Scroll; when examining the "Long Hate Song", he proposed that Bai Juyi's poems should be combined with Chen Hong's biography and turned into a very harmonious whole, and so on. Gong Pengcheng believes that these cannot withstand scrutiny and careful study.
In addition, Gong Pengcheng also pointed out very sharply that Chen Yinke's reference to the source of the Yellow Turban in his famous work "The Relationship between Tianshi Dao and the Coastal Region" also made a fundamental mistake. First of all, Chen Yinke very senselessly miscalculated all the People who believed in Taoism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties in this article as Tianshi Daoist disciples.
Secondly, it also assigned All Taoist activities to the coastal areas. The historical reality that has been examined is that the Tianshi Dao during the Southern and Northern Dynasties also contained many Taoist sects, and Taoism also flourished in places except for the coastal area.
The concluding evidence is the backbone of the academic article, the solid skeleton that supports all the discourses. If the skeleton itself is unreliable, then academic articles as a torso are scattered all over the sand. If even the conclusions are wrong, then the value contained in the academic article itself is nonsense. All in all, when scholars make academic creations, the most taboo thing is that the conclusions are wrong or not rigorous enough.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >3, although there are fallacies, but the flaws are not hidden</h1>
It can be said that Gong Pengcheng's angle of criticizing Chen Yinke is relatively novel, and he has great courage to stand up and point out criticism. However, Gong Pengcheng did not blindly criticize and accuse Chen Yinke, in fact, he was more appreciative of Chen Yinke. He believes that although Chen Yinke has made some mistakes in examining evidence, his flaws are not hidden, and the value of his academic articles should still be affirmed.
In the article "The Relationship between Tianshi Dao and the Coastal Region", which is a mistake in various references, Chen Yinke adopted a cultural geography method and applied the geographical factors of the "coastal region" to explore and explain many Taoist beliefs and activities in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and its pioneering and innovative nature was of great enlightening significance to scholars and future generations in related fields.
This kind of academic way of thinking, which is not limited to quoting scriptures, correct everywhere, and has great novel and creative significance, has sent a great vitality to the academic community at that time. Therefore, it has extremely high value.
In fact, what Gong Pengcheng admires most about Chen Yinke is that the topic selection is sharp and the research is clever. The study of ideological origins, religious changes, etc. has always been a boom in the academic field, and it can be said that it is a very hot research topic among scholars.
However, Chen Yinke is not conventional, and in his academic creation, he still adheres to the principle and concept of "four noes", specializes in studying some cold history and culture, and constructs innovative thinking in them. Therefore, his unique and innovative topic selection and thinking angle, as well as ingenious research, have attracted the heartfelt appreciation and loyal followers of many scholars (including Gong Pengcheng and others).
Although Gong Pengcheng used spicy and sharp language to "ruthlessly" criticize and expose Chen Yinke, it was also based on the full affirmation and recognition of Chen Yinke. Only by constantly reflecting on existing ideas can we better understand the current academic research. In addition, although Chen Yinke is indeed flawed, it does not affect him with his high charm and academic level, and he has circled a large number of fans in the past, now and even in the future.
Text/Wen Shi Wangwang