Explanation of the Lin Clan Totem

Meaning

Lin (林) means forest.

In oracle‑bone script, bronze inscriptions, small‑seal script, and modern regular script, the character 林 has essentially the same form: two trees standing side by side.

It is a pictographic, associative‑meaning character.

Origin

During the Shang Dynasty, the noble Bi Gan (of the Zi lineage) risked his life to remonstrate with King Zhou of Shang.

He was executed by having his heart cut out.

His wife, of the Chen clan, fled while pregnant to the Stone Chamber of the Long Forest in Muye (located in today’s mountainous forests southwest of Qixian and northwest of Weihui, Henan).

There she gave birth to a son and named him Jian.

After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty, he met Jian and, knowing he was born in the Long Forest, granted him the surname Lin.

In early Eastern Zhou (capital at modern Luoyang), King Ping of Zhou had a concubine‑born son named Lin Kai.

Some of Lin Kai’s descendants adopted his given name as their surname, forming another branch of the Lin clan.

Additionally, among the Xianbei people, there originally existed the Qiulin clan.

After Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei relocated them to Luoyang during his Sinicization reforms, they changed their surname to Lin.

Ancestral Founder of the Surname

Lin Jian (son of Bi Gan)

Ancestral Homelands

• Lin County, Henan

• Weihui, Henan

• Qixian, Henan

Prominent Clans / Halls

• Xihe, Nanan

• Jinan Hall, Jiulong Hall

Modern Ranking / Population

• 16th most common surname in China

• Approximately 15.1 million people

Ranking in the Song Dynasty’s Hundred Family Surnames

• 147th

Existing Genealogies

• 1,096 volumes preserved today