Jīn-dynasty 金 Daoist scholar, Hermit of Ráo yáng 饒陽 (Héběi 河北). Zì Zōng fú 宗父. Author of the substantial 12-juàn commentary-anthology [[KR5c0107|Dàodé zhēn jīng qū shàn jí 道德真經取善集]] (DZ 718) — printed 1172, preserving fifty-four different commentaries on the Dàodé jīng from a wide range of periods.
Activity period. Active in the mid-12th century under Jīn rule. The 1172 preface of Liú Yǔnshēng 劉允升 that attests the printing of the anthology provides the only firm chronological anchor; Lǐ Lín’s own preface (undated) is described as “written in his later years”, suggesting active period spanning the 1150s–1170s.
Origins. Native of Ráo yáng xiàn 饒陽縣 in Héběi 河北 — a region under Jīn rule from 1126.
Work. His sole known work is the Dàodé zhēn jīng qū shàn jí (DZ 718) — a major Daoist commentary-anthology. See KR5c0107 for full treatment. The anthology is distinguished by:
- Fifty-four cited commentators spanning Jìn, Suí, Táng, Northern-Sòng, and Lǐ Lín’s own Jīn-era sources — an exceptionally broad survey.
- Lǐ Lín’s own meta-commentary added to each cited commentary — a dialogical editorial method.
- Early Quán zhēn 全真 Daoist orientation — the 1172 date places DZ 718 at just two years after the death of Quán zhēn founder Wáng Chóngyáng 王重陽 (1170), making this one of the earliest texts to show explicit Quán zhēn influence.
- Distinctive nèi dān 內丹 cosmology — with jīng as the prime element, and a characteristic jīng → shén sublimation-scheme that bypasses qì.
Philosophical orientation. Lǐ Lín represents a transitional moment in the history of Daoism: the end of the independent Jīn scholarly tradition and the rise of the Quán zhēn monastic movement that would come to dominate Northern Chinese Daoism under the Mongols. His Daoism is already Quán zhēn-inflected but retains the scholarly eclecticism of the earlier tradition. His distinctive nèi dān cosmology — centring on the sublimation of jīng to shén — anticipates later Quán zhēn developments.
Disambiguation. Not to be confused with other figures named 李霖. The Jīn-dynasty “Hermit of Ráo yáng” is a distinct figure known only through DZ 718.
Dating. Active 1150s–1172. No precise lifedates. No CBDB record identified.