Chén Yuān 陳淵 (Sòng, d. 1145)
Zì Zhīmò 知默 (per Shěn Dù’s 1147 preface) — also given as Jǐsǒu 幾叟 (per Yáng Wànlǐ’s 1178 preface). Hào Mòtáng xiānshēng 默堂先生 (after his “Silent Hall” study). Native of Nányuē 南約 / Shāxiàn 沙縣 in Nánjiànzhōu 南劍州 (Fújiàn). Death year 1145 per CBDB id 3094.
Nephew (yóuzǐ) of the famous Yuányòu dissident Chén Guàn 陳瓘 (hào Liǎowēng 了翁), who took him as his ward in youth and predicted that he could shoulder weighty responsibilities and travel far. Disciple of Yáng Shí 楊時 (the Guīshān Master, southern-route transmitter of the Chéng-brothers heritage); served Yáng “for three jì (thirty-six years)” — making him probably Yáng’s most senior southern disciple at his death.
Career: rose to Zhèngyán 正言 (Speaker-Censor) and ended as Zōngzhèng shǎoqīng 宗正少卿 (Vice-Director of the Imperial Clan). Crossed Qín Huì 秦檜 (the shízǎi of his day) and was rejected at court before he could fully implement his program; died (according to the disciple Shěn Dù) “carrying his unfulfilled aim to the grave.” CBDB id 3094.
Chén was a key transmitter of the Yáng Shí — Chéng Yí line of Lǐxué into the early Southern Sòng generation. Yáng Wànlǐ’s 1178 preface to his collection canonizes the lineage: Yīchuān (Chéng Yí) → Xièshì (Xiè Liángzuǒ), Yóushì (Yóu Zuò), Yángshì (Yáng Shí) → Mòtáng (Chén Yuān), placing Chén at the head of the second-generation Lǐxué roster.
Surviving in Kanripo: