在中国学术界,对于何炳棣先生在史学研究诸方面的贡献,有着颇多评价和赞誉。就清朝史的研究来说,他的治学给予我有两点启示:一是他在选题上对研究第一等题目的强调。他援引数学大师林家翘的话说:“要紧的是不管搞哪一行,千万不要做第二等的题目。”(何炳棣:《读史阅世六十年》, In Chinese academia, there are many comments and accolades for Mr. He Bingdi’s contribution to the study of history. For the study of the history of the Qing Dynasty, his scholarship gave me two enlightenments: First, he emphasizes on the topics of the first study on the topics selected. He quoted the math guru Lin Jiaqian as saying: “What matters is that no matter what line you are engaged in, you should never do second-class questions.” (He Bingdi, “Sixty Years of Reading History”