Lin received his early education at a school in Gaozhou.

In Guangzhou, Lin met Zhu Zhixin and participated in the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising of 1911.

The next year, he graduated and took part in a Gaozhou based revolt.

Lin pursued further study in law and politics at St. John's University in New York City, returning to China in 1918.

He succeeded Huang Musong as minister of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission later that year, but was shortly thereafter named auditor-general of the Republic of China.