In the following sentence:
这就是中国书法千百年来之所以能得以传承的缘由。
能 means "can", "be able to ~"
得以 also means "can", "be able to ~"
So this is in conflict with each other. For me it seems that one word is enough in this context.
Pleco does not have the entry for 能得以, so I think it is not an idiom here.
Why are two words that seemingly mean the same thing used together in this context? What makes it different from just using a single word?
(能)(得以) = (can) (be allowed to/ get to be)
Example:
"能得以晉級" = 能(can) 得以晉級(be allowed to advance )
"未能得以脫罪" = 未能 (cannot) 得以脫罪(get to be acquitted)
这就是中国书法千百年来之所以能得以传承的缘由。
With "这就是 ~~~~ 的缘由" (this is the reason of ~~~ ) in the sentence, "之所以" (the reason why) is redundant.
Instead of using 能得以, you can make it more simple by just using 能 (can) or 得以(be allowed to/ get to be)
The following sentences are more grammatically fluent than the one in question
"这就是 [千百年来, 中国书法得以传承] 的缘由" emphasize the 'long time'
"这就是 [中国书法(能)传承千百年] 的缘由" or "这就是 [中国书法(得以)传承千百年] 的缘由" emphasize the subject itself
"中国书法 [之所以] 能传承千百年, 是因为 (insert reasons)"
能得以 can be comprehended as 能够得到.
There's a nuance between 能得以传承 and 能传承. 能得以传承 implies that it can be inherited by people, and people would inherit because of that. It's kinda a proactive inheriting. 能传承 means something being able to pass through the generations, but not addressing people would be willing to inherit it.
Hope this clear to you.
This is definitely a rambling expression.
However, the problem is not 能得以, but 之所以 and 能得以.
It could be
这就是中国书法千百年来能得以传承的缘由.
这就是中国书法千百年来之所以能传承的缘由
得以 means 'via that' or 'by that', old time 虚词 is not necessary, the sentence could rewrite to
这就是中国书法千百年来能被传承的缘由.
The 以 can also used for 被,so sometimes we may write 能得以 or 之所以, but use both is really redundant.
Instead of answering what 能得以 means, let's break this down into
這就是「Ｘ」之所以能得「Ｙ」的緣由。
The reason we are able to get/obtain「Y」is because of「X」.
Translate「X」and「Y」:
這就是中國書法千百年來之所以能得以傳承的緣由。
The reason we are able to obtain something inheritable is because of the millenia of Chinese calligraphic traditions.
This is a truly terrible sentence to behold, as you can see from the amount of redundancies. What the author of this sentence is really trying to say is that
Chinese calligraphy is a tradition that is valuable, beautiful and worthy of continuation/inheritance
The tradition has developed over a period of thousands of years
If I were to give a translation which captured something like this idea, I would say
We are the proud inheritors of the millenia-old tradition of Chinese calligraphy.
Where did you see the sentence? It's terribly written. Lots of redundancy.
Pick one.
IMO the second sentence is shorter and denser in meaning, so it's slightly better in compositions, but you don't have to bother if you're learning Chinese as a second language.
This is because of the semantic value of the word 以 。 能得 is the ability of achieving 以 through 能. I suggest looking at compound words involving both characters.
