Chen, together with Lü Simian, Chen Yinke and Ch'ien Mu, was known as the "Four Greatest Historians" of Modern China (現代四大史學家).

He later served as the president of Beijing Normal University.

From 1917, Chen began to work on the history of Christianity in China and later published his most famous book, Research of Arkaguns in Yuan Dynasty (《元也里可溫考》).

Subsequently, he published several books about the spreading of Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism and Islam in China as well as various works on Buddhism, especially during the Qing dynasty.

[citation needed] Chen also paid great attention to collation work on Code of Yuan Dynasty (《元典章》).