在近代《易》學史上，錢玄同扮演了一個十分關鍵的角色，起到了近乎奠基的作用。在觀念上，錢玄同早在1920年代初便提出了「孔子與《易》無關」、「易卦是生殖器的記號」以及「《易經》是一部卜筮之書」等三個「非常異義可怪之論」；在材料上，錢玄同於1920年代末則以「紙上之遺文」為據，證之以「地下之實物」——《漢石經．周易》殘字，對今文《易》的篇數問題進行了審查。以此觀之，錢玄同可謂是開近代《易》學風氣之先的一位代表性人物。

Qian Xuan-tong plays an important role in the modern history of Zhouyi study. About the concept, Qian Xuan-tong puts forward three absurd theories in the 1920, which is “Confucius has nothing to do with ZhouYi” and “ZhouYi is genital organ”, and “Zhouyi is a Book of divination”. About the material, he examines the papers of Zhouyi with literatures and underground objects. Therefore, Qian Xuan-tong should be described a representative of the Zhouyi study in modern times.