Chinese surname · rank 323
蔺
蔺 is read as lìn.
lìn
Simplified 蔺 · Traditional 藺
rush used for making mats
Earth
Time: Spring and Autumn Jin-Han lineage background, Warring States Zhao Han Kang fief-name formation, Song Zhejiang distribution, Ming Shandong-Shanxi-Henan-Hebei-Sichuan distribution, and later commandery labels; Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE
Place: Han lineage at Han/Hancheng, Shaanxi; Lin or Linyang fief reported west of Lishi, Shanxi, north of Liulin/Mengmen, or northwest of Weinan, Shaanxi; Fengyi in Shaanxi, Zhongshan in Hebei, and Huayang in Sichuan as later prestige lineages; Song Zhejiang and Ming Shandong-centered distribution
Origin note
Lin is read lin as a surname. Its core layer is not the plant meaning of the character but a fief-name surname. Sources trace Lin to the Ji-surname Han line: after the Han lineage developed from the Jin ruling house, Han Jue's descendant Han Kang served in Zhao and received a fief called Lin or Linyang. Descendants then used the fief name as the surname. The exact location of Lin is reported differently in surname summaries, including west of present-day Lishi in Shanxi, Mengmen in present-day Liulin, and a site northwest of Weinan in Shaanxi, so this page treats the fief as secure but presents the locality as a set of source-reported traditions. Lin Xiangru is a famous later Zhao figure attached to the Lin lineage, but this page does not use fame stories as origin evidence by themselves.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.