Chen Yuan (historian)

Chen Yuan
陳垣
Chen Yuan
2nd President of Fu Jen Catholic University
In office 1929–1951
Preceded by	Barry O'Toole
Succeeded by	Paul Yü Pin
31st President of Beijing Normal University
In office 1952–1971
Preceded by	Lin Liru
Succeeded by	Wang Zikun
Personal details
Born	(1880-11-12)12 November 1880 Xinhui, Guangdong, Qing China
Died	21 June 1971(1971-06-21) (aged 90) Beijing, PRC
Alma mater	Lingnan University (Guangzhou)

Chen Yuan (Chinese: 陳垣; 12 November 1880 – 21 June 1971) was a Chinese historian and educator. Chen, together with Lü Simian, Chen Yinke and Ch'ien Mu, was known as the "Four Greatest Historians" of Modern China (現代四大史學家).

He is known for his work in the fields of religious history, Yuan Dynasty history, textology and textual criticism. Chen was a professor of Peking University, Beijing Normal University and Fu Jen Catholic University. He later served as the president of Beijing Normal University. Before 1949, he also served as the president of Metropolitan Library and the Palace Museum library.

From 1917, Chen began to work on the history of Christianity in China and later published his most famous book, Research of Arkaguns in Yuan Dynasty (《元也里可溫考》). Arkagun was the name given to Christians during the Yuan dynasty. Subsequently, he published several books about the spreading of Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism and Islam in China as well as various works on Buddhism, especially during the Qing dynasty.^{[citation needed]} Chen also paid great attention to collation work on Code of Yuan Dynasty (《元典章》).^[1]