The Lin Ben Yuan Family (;

rōmaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logogram, logographic characters borrowe ...

: ''Rin Hon Gen''), also known as the Banqiao Lin Family (), are a

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

ese family of businesspeople, politicians, and scholars. They rose from Banqiao,

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

during the era of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

and are still active in present Taiwan. In June 2008, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' ranked Lin Ming-cheng as the 20th-richest person in Taiwan. He is a member of the seventh generation of the family and the vice chairman of Hua Nan Financial Holdings.

Origin

The family was descended from Lin Ying-yin (林應寅) who moved from Longxi (龍溪),

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen. Nam ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

province,

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

to Xinzhuang of Qing-era Taiwan in 1784. His second son, , accompanied him in search of opportunities in the new frontier. Lin Ying-yin became a teacher while Lin Ping-Hou managed to work for a rice merchant. Recognizing his diligence and penchant for business, he was given the opportunity to start his own rice trading firm which sparked the beginning of his wealth and fortune. With the wealth created from the rice business, he expanded into other commodity trades and invested in real estate. In later years, Lin Ping-hou divided his portfolio of businesses into five separately owned and managed entities for his five sons. The entities were named "Yin" (飲), "Shui" (水), "Ben" (本), "Si" (思) and "Yuan" (源), which is a meaningful proverb and a strong family value. It literally means to always remember the source of the water which we are drinking; a constant reminder to be grateful and respectful of the origins, ancestry or reasons for the favourable or better current conditions. From the eldest to the youngest, the sons were Lin Guodong (林國棟), Lin Guoren (林國仁), Lin Guohua (林國華), Lin Guoying (林國英), and Lin Guofang (林國芳). Two of the brothers, Lin Guohua and Lin Guofang, who were, respectively, the third and fifth children, united their business entities they had received, Ben and Yuan, and so the family name became "Lin Ben Yuan".

Legacy

In 1819, Lin Ping-hou built ''Lin Shi Yi Zhuang'' (), a charitable home and organization for the less fortunate people back in his home town in China. This home has been restored and has become a historical landmark. Ji Gu Shu Wu

The

Lin Family Mansion and Garden The Lin Ben Yuan Family Mansion and Garden () in Banqiao District, New Taipei City, Taiwan was a residence built by the Lin Ben Yuan Family. It is Taiwan's most complete surviving example of traditional Chinese garden architecture. The Lin Family ...

, the family's home in Taiwan, has a typical

Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Emperor of China, Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and t ...

which was appointed as a national monument. The Lin Family Mansion in Gulangyu Island,

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

, China was built in 1895 by Lim Nee Kar (林爾嘉; ''Lin Erjia''), second son of Lin Wei Yuan. The mansion became a boutique hotel in 2010. The buildings are protected by government mandate and much of their architecture and magnificence have been preserved. Accompanying the mansion is Shuzhuang Garden (菽莊花園) which is at the southern tip of Gulangyu Island. It was also created by Lim Nee Kar in 1913 as he had wanted to recreate the family's garden in Taiwan which he dearly missed. In 1955, this garden was donated to the Chinese government and opened to the public.

References

{{reflist Taiwanese families *