A Discussion On Chen Yuan’s Buddhism Historiography

Chen Yuan is one of the famous historians in the20thcentury, and hemakes outstanding contribution to the field of the Buddhism historiography.Chen Yuan studies Buddhism history based on the Buddhism history thoughts,and he makes his thoughts changed as the change of times and as the need of times.His research divides into three distinct phases bounded to the Anti-Japanese War andthe founding of new China, from truth-seeking to meaning-seeking to Marxisthistoriography. There is no doubt to say he is worthy of the name of a Buddhismhistoriography workers advancing with the Times. Throughout his study, he alwaysadhere to seek the truth of Buddhism history.On Buddhism history materials, he searches and collects the hidden and varioushistorical materials. Chen Yuan makes contributions in using the Dun Huang literature,exploring the Jia Xing literature, utilizing Buddhism quotations and traditionalliteratures, discovering the rare records from the common historical materials, andsearching for the available materials from the rare historical date. Chen Yuan occupiesthe commanding heights of Buddhism History of research based on his reliablehistorical materials.On Buddhism history methods, Chen Yuan inherits and carries forward thehistorical textual research of the traditional method, and combines the westernscientific experiment methods and historical empirical spirits. He has carried on thecomprehensive and detailed research to find out the truth of Buddhism events, figures,relics and literatures. Through the long–term research, he forms a set of method andtheory of textual research with his own characteristic;On Buddhism history books and articles, Chen Yuan achieves fruitful results andsets a good example in topic selection, frame structure, thinking logic and expressionskill at that time and later ages. He writes in different forms according to the contents,multivariate style, rigorous paper, careful logic and over and over again modification,and then he writes many good Buddhism historiography articles and books.Chen Yuan’s Buddhism historiography his own distinguished characteristics. It isa development innovation, and leads forward the Buddhism historiography; It is ascientific study, and is an model of the truth-seeking. It is a reality research, and is an model of the meaning-seeking. It is an equality and open study, and is a concretize ofthe new historiography and new ideas. It is a basis of the comprehensive performance,and is beginning of overall study.In the background of the twentieth century history, this article is trying tostraighten out Chen Yuan’s Buddhism historiography achievements and argument hisresearch characteristics, so as to clear the status of Chen Yuan’s Buddhismhistoriography. Generally speaking, Chen Yuan’s Buddhism historiography is anintegral part of his historical, and has a great value and significance open new researchin both for historiography and the research of Buddhism History. So this is preciouswealth left to us by Chen Yuan, and is a treasure which is worthy of our studying andexploring.