For his 40 years of determined innovations in tin, the 46-year-old Chen was given a National Heritage Award from the Ministry of Education in 1988. He was the youngest person to win an award in the handicraft category that year.
對錫工藝三十餘年的堅持與創新，一九八八年，四十六歲的陳萬能獲教育部頒發民族藝術薪傳獎，成為該屆工藝類最年輕的得獎人。