《ECNU REVIEW Vol.7/华夏学术（第7辑）》：
With the ideological connotation and acadenuc depth achieved in his writings， Mr. Chen Xulu has formed a kind of academic style that he calls "Si Bian （critical thinking）"， and the theoretical thinking attribute expressed by it is obvious. However， in Mr. Chen's lectures to his students， and in his written texts to speeches， he never specifically talked about his historical structure and system in the sense of theory and methodology， Professor Xu Jilin， who had read Mr. Chen's works with his heart， was deeply impressed by this. Therefore， he used the phrase "the master needs no skills" - an expression similar to that to speak highly of him. And before the said praise by Professor Xu Jilin， such praises were heard a lot. After seeing all kinds of historical theories and historical methodologies， I look back at the 1980s and I will respond with the phrase "the master needs no skills". However， the academic circles nowadays are prone to erect their flags by theory and methodology， and are even eager to put others into category by using such theory and methodology. Thereafter， it is a fact that the outstanding works left by Mr. Chen feature the integration between history and thoughts in his study. While also being a fact， and being immersed into and trained by more than twenty years of theory and methodology， we still cannot find a suitable theory to categorize Mr. Chen's study that is featured with theoretical thinking. Therefore， using the "the master needs no skills" to describe Mr. Chen Xulu also denotes that the nowadays "omnipotent" theory and methodology cannot fully cover the history and history study. And those who reach a high level are often cannot be categorized.
Compared with the theories and methodologies that have evolved over the past 20 years when the western learning is spreading to the east， the ancient Chinese scholars and historians have taken a different vision and another set of rationales. Liu Zhiji of the Tang dynasty， wrote a book Shitong and opened the precedent of Chinese and world historiography. There is a section in the Old Book of Tang that says：
Zi Xuan （ Liu Zhiji） was in charge of the state history recording for more than 20 years， and many of his writings are highly praised. Zheng Weizhong， a ritual minister， once asked Zi Xuan， "Since ancient times， there have been many literature scholars but few talented lustorians， what is the reason therefor?" He answered， "Talented historians should have three strengthens， but there are none of those talents in the world， and therefore there are few talented historians. The 'three strengthens' refer to wisdom， knowledge and insight. If he only has knowledge but no wisdom， even he also own acres of fertile lands and tons of gold， he can not become a successful businessman. If he has wisdom but no knowledge， even he can think like a craftsman and master excellent skills， but if he has no woods and axes， he cannot build a palace. "
Later， Zhang Xuecheng， from the Qing dynasty， cited the above and further put it， "It is not easy to have one of the 'wisdoms'， 'knowledge' and 'insight' and it is even more difficult to have all of them. " Therefore， it is said that "the nobleness of history lies in the righteousness， the subject of history is the fact recording， and the vehicle of tustory is the text". For historians， the essence of the three things mentioned before is that "without insight the righteousness cannot be told； without wisdom the text cannot be well written； without knowledge the fact recording cannot be done". It is obvious that he attached great importance to the historical knowledge. Therefore， he started with this and expressed deeper thoughts："He who has historical knowledge must follow the ethic of history recording. What is the ethic of history recording? It is the inner rules observed by the historiographer. "
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