「獨立之精神」、「自由之思想」是陳寅恪為人為學宗旨與誓言，在其論著中屢屢提及。陳以「獨立」與「自由」的贊語加諸國學大師、一代詞人王國維（1877-1927）、乾隆時期才女、彈詞作家陳端生（1751-約1796）及晚明名妓、復明志士柳如是（1617-1664）等人身上。論及此三人共同之處，陳端生與柳如是雖出身有別（一為閨秀，一為名妓），但就女性身分界定的特殊限制與可能性而言，卻有相似之處。柳如是與王國維，同為遺民（一為明朝遺民，一為清朝遺民），然二人對失落國度的依戀同樣彰顯了與當世政權的疏離，皆代表著對權力架構以外之文化空間的追求。三者對傳統文化價值都深有體悟且具反抗精神，是以超越新舊對立、文化傳承與激變的矛盾。陳寅恪關注王、陳、柳的詩文，代表融合懷舊與抗爭的想像世界與議論空間。論文第一部分討論陳寅恪哀輓王國維詩文的立論三變─從「殉清」到「殉中國文化」，再進至「一死見其獨立自由之意志」。中國文化的精義因之界定為「獨立」與「自由」，此信念是陳在1949年後面對文化危機、飽受凌逼之際選擇性別視野的原動力；論文第二部分探究陳的性別書寫，陳沿襲比興寄託的傳統，運用性別角色與性別界限，描摹世變中人的政治取向與道德抉擇。更重要的是，他研究挑戰傳統、質疑三綱五常、代表「獨立」與「自由」之女子。陳寅恪的懷舊，除肯定文化的薪火相傳外，同時又重新定義「文化」。懷舊的對象既是被傳統壓抑、誤解的人物，表明所懷者是她們所體現的抗爭精神。正是基於這種懷舊，自主意識與權力架構的抗衡適得以展開。

＂Independence of spirit＂ and ＂freedom of thought＂ are recurrent refrains in the writings of Chen Yinke and the ideals he implicitly upheld as a historian. He applied these epithets to an unlikely trio-the scholar and poet Wang Guowei (1877-1927), the Qianlong era woman writer Chen Duansheng (1751-ca. 1796), and the courtesan poet and Ming loyalist Liu Rushi (1617-1664). What do they have in common? Regarding Chen and Liu, the possibilities and limits of their gender roles (despite class differences) define common grounds. With Liu and Wang, one might say that they were both loyalists (of the Ming and the Qing respectively) and in that sense stood for the right of disaffection from the current regime, the need to claim a cultural-intellectual space not governed by political authority. All three are oppositional figures that seem to bypass the dichotomy of cultural continuity and radical change. Chen Yinke’s focus on them exemplifies the symbiosis of nostalgia and resistance in his life and writings: apparently old-fashioned precepts and the retrospective gaze of cultural nostalgia are tied to alienation, resistance, and self-conscious agency. The first part of this essay examines the logic behind the changes in the ways Chen Yinke lamented the death of Wang Guowei. Chen mourned Wang first as a Qing loyalist, then as a martyr of the traditional values in Chinese civilization, and finally as a defender of ＂independence＂ and ＂freedom.＂ Through rhetorical shifts, Chen seems to be saying that the essence of Chinese culture is ＂the spirit of independence＂ and ＂the freedom of thought.＂ It is this belief that drives him to embrace gender perspectives in the last twenty years of his life when he witnessed a cultural crisis and faced privations and persecution under Communist rule. The second part of this essay explores shifts in Chen's use of gender tropes. From allegorical references and veiled critiques of the compromises of intellectuals, Chen moved to empathetic identification with women who challenged orthodoxy, tradition, and social norms. His writings on Chen and Liu show how nostalgia for the repressed and misunderstood elements in the tradition also amounts to nostalgia for the spirit of resistance. One may say that this is nostalgia that opens up the space for resistance by redefining subjectivity and the claims of political power.