Late-Yuán 元 Daoist master, zì Rén zhāi 仁齋, hào Xuán mén kāi zhēn hóng jiào dà zhēn rén 玄門開真弘教大真人 (“Great Perfected of the Mysterious Gate, Opener of Truth, Spreader of the Teaching”). Native of Guǎng líng 廣陵 (modern Yáng zhōu 揚州, Jiāng sū). Author of the terse 2-juàn commentary [[KR5c0109|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhù 道德真經註]] (DZ 720, 1354).
Office / standing. His elaborate hào — a grand four-part title — suggests official recognition by the late-Yuán religious establishment. The dà zhēn rén 大真人 (“Great Perfected”) designation was typically conferred by imperial decree on prominent Daoist masters of the period. Lín Zhìjiān was therefore, per Robinet’s characterisation in Schipper & Verellen 2004, 2:1944, “an important Taoist master at the end of the Yuán dynasty” — though he is not otherwise documented.
Activity. Active 1354 (the preface date of DZ 720). No precise lifedates. No CBDB record identified.
Work. His sole known work is [[KR5c0109|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhù]] (DZ 720) — a brief commentary in 2 juàn using a distinctive self-referential editorial method, glossing Dàodé jīng passages with phrases drawn from the scripture itself. See KR5c0109 for the full entry.
Historical context. Lín Zhìjiān’s 1354 work stands at the close of Mongol-Yuán Daoism, three years after the outbreak of the Red Turban rebellions (1351) that would eventually bring down the dynasty (1368). He represents the continuing Daoist scholarly tradition under increasingly difficult political conditions, immediately before the transition to Míng Tàizǔ’s (朱元璋) patronage.