【正确答案】 Chen Yuan, the great historian who insisted on the importance of exhausting relevant source materials for any particular study, was also frustrated with the enormous quantity of historical literature. "The more recent an event, the greater amount of literature we have on it. " He once said, "In fact, everything written since the reign of Emperor Daoguang — archives, tablet inscriptions, literary works, essay collections, articles and reports on newspapers and magazines — can serve as source materials, and consequently it is difficult for the scholar to locate and collect relevant materials. " He went on to suggest that "historical study should be split up into smaller disciplines like foreign affairs, politics, education, learning, literature , fine arts, religion, social economy, industry and commerce, etc. , both for the sake of better research and for the convenience in gathering materials. " This idea conformed to the broad trend toward specialization in learning under the influence of the West. Some scholars in late Qing period, Liu Shipei for one, even went so far as to classify Chinese learning into some disciplines of Western science. Hu Shih and Liang Qichao, two most influential scholars of the early 20th century China, were actually encouraging scholars to specialize in smaller fields in historical study when they strongly advocated the systematization of Chinese classic learning. Their ideas have helped create an atmosphere of specialized studies in history, exerting profound influence on later scholars.