Chen Yin-ko once said: "I have been preoccupied all my life with studies of subjects that are neither ancient nor modern, my thinking doesn't go beyond the Hsienfeng and Tungchih periods of the Ching Dynasty, and my views are close to those of Teng Kuo-fan and Chang Chi-tung." Many people have tried to explain the meaning of these remarks, and some of their interpretations are indeed valuable.In addition to present a comprehensive review of these interpretations, this study also tries to ex-examine Chen's remarks in the light of previously ignored historical materials. As a historian, Chen paid close attention to China's pre-modern, medieval history. However, he was also interested in the kind of "practical, applicable studies" that seek to account for the rise and fall of dynasties. Thus, these studies are neither ancient nor modern in the history of philosophy, but it call for an understanding of the present based on a thorough grasp of the past. In addition, these studies are neither in a realm of Chinese nor those of Western one. Furthermore, his scholarship also was neither exclusively Chinese nor exclusively Western. In the context of an unprecedented crisis in Chinese history, Chen's scholarship, while focused on China's response to the Western challenge in its dealing with foreigners, encompassed both Chinese and Western traditions.
