Lin

Lín (Chinese: 林） is the Mandarin Chinese form of a Chinese surname that is also used in Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. It is particularly common in Taiwan and southeastern China - specifically Fujian Province -. It is also common among overseas Chinese because many have origins in Fujian. In Hong Kong and Vietnam, the name often takes the form "Lam" or "Lâm", respectively. The name is also often spelled "Lim".

Name origin

King Zhou of Shang (reigned 1154 BC to 1122 BC), the last king of the Shang dynasty, had three uncles advising him and his administration. The king's uncles were Bi Gan (also spelled Pi Kan), Qi Zi, and Wei Zi. Together the three men were known as "The Three Kindhearted Men of Shang" in the kingdom.^[1] Bi Gan was the son of Prince Ding, son of Emperor Shang and, thus, was King Zhou's uncle.

Unfortunately, Zhou was a cruel king, and the state's citizens suffered tremendously. His three uncles could not persuade him to change his ways. Failing in their duty to advise the king, Wei Zi resigned. Qi Zi faked insanity and was relieved of his post. Only Bi Gan stayed on to continue advising the king to change his ways. "Servants who are afraid of being killed and refrain from telling the truth are not righteous," he said. This put him in danger of incurring the king's wrath. Bi Gan stayed at the palace for three days and nights to try to persuade the bloodthirsty and immoral king to mend his ways.^[2]

The stubborn king would not relent and had his uncle, Bi Gan, arrested for treason. Upon hearing this, his pregnant wife (surname Chen) escaped into the forest to protect her unborn child from death. She knew, in time, the king would execute Bi Gan and his entire family. The baby was born in the forest. Alone with no one to help, she grabbed hold of two trees and gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Jian. When she reached the nearest town, she gave her child the surname Lin (Chinese character depicted by two trees).

Before long, Shang Zhou was overthrown and killed by Zhou Wu Wang (Zhou Dynasty, 1134 BC to 256 BC). Zhou Wu Wang knew about the courageous court adviser Bi Gan and sought his wife and child. When he found them, he honoured them in respect of Bi Gan. The mother and child were restored back into the royal family. The new king conferred the surname Lin (meaning woods or forest) on Bi Gan's son, because he was born in the woods.^[3]

Different versions of the name

• This family name is common among the Malaysian Chinese community. However, because the vast majority of Chinese Malaysians romanised their surnames according to the pronunciations of their respective southern Chinese dialects, it is very rarely romanised as 'Lin'. The Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew communities romanise it as 'Lim' whereas the Cantonese-speaking community uses 'Lam'. The Foochow families have it written as Ling.
• A Korean surname 임 Im (Korean name) is the Korean equivalent of Lin. There are two clan branches of 임 - the first being 수풀-림(Supul-Im) and the second, 맡길-임(Matgil-Im).
• The Vietnamese surname, Lâm, was formerly written using the same Chinese character.
• In Singapore, although "Lim" and "Lam" are generally more common variants, the extremely rare spelling "Lynn" can be found in select families of Chinese, Japanese or other East-Asian ancestry (also transcribed using the 林 character) and bears no known relation to the English or Scottish surname of the same spelling. That is "Ling". (Added by Ling, Hua Kui).
• Ling is widely seen in Sibu (Sarawak) and Perak in Malaysia. Former federal minister, Ling Liong Sik, is an example. Now, many of them migrated and settled down in other countries.
• According to an unofficial count undertaken by the American company infoUSA, "Lam" is the third most common surname found in Canadian telephone directories.^[4]
• A rare Chinese surname which is also transcribed Lin is 藺 (pinyin Lìn).
• A common Japanese surname, Hayashi, is written with the same character 林, also meaning forest.
• Indonesians of Chinese ancestry with this surname usually spell it as "Liem."
• Prominent royalists Thai-chinese family with this surname are bestowed by member of the royal family some example includes "Limthongkul" "Sirilim" and many more

Notable people surnamed Lin

In Chinese tradition, the surname is always stated "before" the given name, though Chinese living in Western countries will often put their surname after their given name.

Regional Chinese dialect differences in pronunciation of Mandarin "Lin" are: Lam, Lim, Liem, Ling, and Rin.

Lin:

• Jeremy Lin (born 1988), American basketball player
• Justin Lin American movie director
• Lin Biao, Chinese Communist military and political leader
• Lin Brigitte, (林青霞), (real name- Lin Ching Hsia), Taiwanese actress
• Lin Chih Ying, (林志穎), (stage name- Jimmy Lin), Taiwanese actor
• Lin Chi Ling, (林志玲), Taiwanese model, actor
• Lin Cho Liang, Taiwanese-American violinist
• Lin Dan (林丹), men's singles badminton player, People's Republic of China
• Lin Di, pipa player with Chinese rock band Cold Fairyland
• Enik Lin, Taiwanese-American singer, songwriter in IAMMEDIC
• Lin Hwai-min, choreographer and founder of Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dance Theater
• Jenny Lin Taiwanese-American pianist
• Lin Jun Jie, Singaporean singer and songwriter
• Lin Kevin, (林義傑), marathon runner
• Lin Li Hui (林立慧), (stage name- Shu Qi), Taiwanese actress
• Lin Maya, artist and architect
• Lin Peng, actress
• Lin Sang, People's Republic of China athlete
• Lin Sen, Taiwanese leader
• Lin Shicheng, Shanghai born pipa player
• Lin Xin Ru (Ruby Lin), (林心如), Taiwanese actress
• Lin Xiangru Chinese politician of the Warring States period
• Lin Yang-kang, Taiwanese politician
• Lin Yi Chen (Ariel Lin), Taiwanese actress
• Lin Yu-fang, a Taiwanese politician
• Lin Youren, musician Chinese guqin player
• Lin Yutang, Chinese writer
• Lin Wei Ling, (林韋伶), (stage name- Estrella Lin), Taiwanese singer
• Lin Zexu, 19th century official and diplomat

Lam:

• Lam Adrian, coach
• Lam Barry, (林百里), founder and chairman of Quanta Computer
• Lam Bowie, Hong Kong actor and singer
• Lam Bun, radio commentator
• Lam Bun-Ching, concert pianist and composer
• Lam Carol, ex-US Attorney
• Lam Chet, singer/songwriter
• Lam Dale, choreographer
• Lam David, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Canada
• Lam Derek, fashion designer
• Lam Eman, musician
• Lam Fung (Raymond Lam), Hong Kong entertainer
• Lam George (林子祥), singer
• Lam James, author and consultant
• Lam Karena (林嘉欣), actress
• Lam Kor-wan, serial killer
• Nora Lam, Chinese Christian Ministry and the author of "China Cry"
• Pat Lam, rugby player
• Richard Lam, lyricist
• Ringo Lam, film director
• Sandy Lam (林憶蓮), Hong Kong Cantopop singer
• Sarah Lam, actress
• Stephen Lam, government official
• Tony Lam, politician
• Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist
• Yin-ling Lam, news broadcaster
• Dome Pakorn Lam pop singer and troll

Lim:

• Lim Eng Beng, (林鷹鳴), a Chinese/Filipino professional basketball player
• Lim Alfredo, Filipino politician
• Don Vicente Lim together with his sons Ricardo Fernandez Lim and Luis Fernandez Lim, Filipino Municipal Mayors of the town of Coron, Palawan.
• Lim Zeryl, a Filipino actress
• Lim Bo Seng, World War II anti-Japanese Resistance fighter based in Singapore and British Malaya
• Lim Catherine, Malaysian-born Singaporean author
• Lim Chin Siong, Singaporean trade union leader and politician
• Lim Chong Eu, retired Malaysian politician
• Lim Eun Ji, South Korean pole vaulter
• Lim E Hong, Dominic, (林毅锋）, Virtue Theorist and Philosopher, renowned Martial artist from Singapore
• Lim Giong, Taiwanese musician and songwriter and actor
• Lim Goh Tong, Malaysian tycoon
• Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian politician, current Chief Minister of Penang (2008–present)
• Ken Lim, Singaporean record producer and composer
• Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian politician, known as Mr. Opposition
• Lim Kwong Yew (Norman Kwong), former Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Canada
• Moses Lim, TV and movie actor (e.g. "Just Follow Law"), food gourmet and entrepreneur from Singapore
• Peter Lim, Singaporean billionaire
• Ron Lim, American comic book artist
• Lim Yew Hock, second Chief Minister of Singapore
• Liem Sioe Liong (Sudono Salim), Indonesian tycoon
• Liem Swie King, Indonesian badminton player
• Jeremy Lim, (born 2000), Australian Pokemon TCG player

Lim:

• Lim Chang Yong, (林昌勇), South Korean Baseball Pitcher
• Lim Dong Hyek, (林東赫), South Korean classical pianist
• Lim Dong Min, (林東珉), South Korean classical pianist
• Lim Jeong Hee, (J-Lim), (林正姬), South Korean female musician
• Lim Jeong Hyun, (林正玄), South Korean Guitarist
• Lim Su Jeong, (林秀晶), South Korean Actress
• Lim Su Jeong, (林秀貞), South Korean Female Taekwondo practitioner
• Lim Su Jeong, South Korean Female Muay Thai kickboxer.
• Lim Ye Jin, (林藝眞), South Korean actress
• Lim Yo-Hwan, (林遙煥), South Korean StarCraft player

Ling:

• Ling, Liong Sik, (林良實), Former Malaysian politician and Federal Minister
• Ling, Hoe I., Engineering Professor at Columbia University, New York, USA

Im:

• Im Dong Hyun, (林东贤), a South Korean archer
• Im Joong Yong, (林重容), South Korean football player
• Im Sang Soo, (林相洙), South Korean film director and screenwriter
• Im Seul Ong, (林瑟邕), a South Korean singer from 2AM
• Im Tea Bin (also known as Im Danny), (stage name- Tae Bin), Korean-American, South Korean singer from 1TYM
• Im Yoon Ah, (林允兒), (stage name- Yoona), South Korean female actress, singer from Girls' Generation

Yim:

• Yim Jae Beom, (official name- Lim Jae Bum), (林在范), South Korean rock singer
• Yim Sung Ah, South Korean professional golfer

Rin:

• Rin Kaiho, (林海峰), professional Go player

Fictional:

• Lin Chong, character in the Chinese novel The Water Margin (Shuihu Zhuan)
• Lin Daiyu, major character in the Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber

See also

• Lam, Variant of Chinese mandarin Lin
• List of common Chinese surnames

References

1. ^ http://forest.awardspace.com/lintree.html?topic=lintree1st
2. ^ http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200609/06/eng20060906_300239.html
3. ^ http://www.yutopian.com/names/08/8lin16.html
4. ^ "Common surnames". CBC.ca (CBC News). 2007-07-26. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/name-change/common-surnames.html. Retrieved 2008-01-27. "...the source is a Nebraska-based company called infoUSA, which claims to have put together a directory of every telephone listing in Canada." 

External links

• Lin Family Tree, Part 1 (Chinese)
• Lin Family Tree, Part 2 (Chinese)
• Origin of Lin*, Lim*, Lam*, Lum*
• History of a Chinese surname: Lin
• Chinese surname LIN
• Eulogy for Pi Kan
• LINS BROS. 林氏兄弟 LIN Media