Chen Yuan (historian)
Chen Yuan 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.
He is known by his work in the fields of religious history, Yuan Dynasty history, textology and textual criticism. Chen was professor of Peking University, Beijing Normal University and Fu Jen Catholic University, and 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 history of Christianity in China, and later published his name-earning book Research of Arkaguns in Yuan Dynasty. Arkagun is the name given to Christians in Yuan Dynasty. Subsequently, he published several books about the spreading of Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism and Islam in China. Chen also paid great attention to collation work on Code of Yuan Dynasty.
