Southern-Sòng historian active in the Níngzōng and Lǐzōng reigns; native of Línjiāng (modern Jiāngxī). Zì Zhòngxiáng 仲祥. Took the jìnshì in Kāixǐ 1 (1205); served as Education Officer of Fǔzhōu, Erudite of the Military Academy, judge of Huìzhōu and Tánzhōu, and acting prefect of Yīngdé. Son of Xú Dézhī 徐得之 (the Zuǒshì guójì author) and nephew of Xú Mèngshēn 徐夢莘 (the Sānzhāo běiméng huìbiān compiler); his elder brother Xú Mèngjiān 徐孟堅 wrote a Hàn guān kǎo 漢官考. Xú Tiānlín’s two surviving works, the XīHàn Huìyào 西漢會要 (KR2m0006, 1211) and DōngHàn Huìyào 東漢會要 (KR2m0007, 1226), are the foundational antiquarian huìyào and the model for all later retrospective huìyào. The Cháo Gōngwǔ Dúshū zhì mistakenly makes him Mèngshēn’s son; Lóu Yuè’s Gōngkuì jí preface (cited by the Sìkù editors) confirms the correct relationship.