He was born in the Yin year and was named Yin Ke. Ke was the senior among brothers. It has no other meaning.
Chen Yinke was born in Changsha, Hunan, in the 16th year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1890). His grandmother, Mrs. Huang, named him Yinke because he was born in the year of Yin. Ke was the senior among brothers.
Chen Yinke (July 3, 1890 - October 7, 1969), courtesy name Heshou, was born in Xiushui, Jiangxi. A rare figure in modern China who combines historians, classical literature researchers, linguists, and poets. Together with Ye Qisun, Pan Guangdan, and Mei Yiqi, he is listed as the four major philosophers in the century-old history of Tsinghua University. Together with Lu Si Mian, Chen Yuan, and Qian Mu are collectively known as the "Four Great Masters of Predecessor Historiography".
He has taught at Tsinghua University, Southwest Associated University, Guangxi University, Yenching University, Sun Yat-sen University, etc.
Chen Yinke’s father, Chen Sanli, was one of the “Four Young Masters of the Late Qing Dynasty” and a famous poet. His grandfather, Chen Baozhen, once served as governor of Hunan. His wife, Tang Yun, is the granddaughter of Taiwan Governor Tang Jingsong. Because of his well-known family background and outstanding knowledge, he was called "the son of princes and the professor of professors" when he taught at Tsinghua University.
He is the author of "A Brief Essay on the Origin of Institutions in the Sui and Tang Dynasties", "A Essay on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty", "Yuanbai Poems and Notes", "Jinmingguan Series", "Liu Rushi's Biography" and "Han Liu Tang Ji" Dream" etc.
Extended information
The pronunciation of the name
According to the "Modern Chinese Dictionary" published by The Commercial Press (2002 supplement), Chen Yinke's "Ke" should be pronounced as "Ke" (Pinyin: Kè).
However, some data show that because Chen Yinke is a Hakka, and "Ke" has "quó" in Hakka, since there is no such sound in Mandarin (called "Guoyu" at the time), he went to northern China Later, it was naturally called "yínquè". It is passed down from generation to generation and becomes a habit. Therefore, some scholars believe that "Chen Yinque" should be read as Chén Yínquè.
However, among Chinese speakers, there are obviously only a few people who know this, including Chen Yinke himself, who does not pursue it. Therefore, when using Mandarin, you may still read Chen Yinke's "Ke" as "KE" (Kè). Moreover, Chen Yinke himself signed an English letter to the University of Oxford in May 1940 as "Tschen Yin Koh".