[1] Ren was born in Xiangyin County, Hunan, during the Qing Empire.
The Beiyang government closed down the newspaper when its articles againsted Yuan Shikai's restoration of monarchy.
[2][3] He returned to China in 1922 and that year became President of Hunan Business School.
He also founded Changsha Dalu School (Chinese: 长沙大麓中学) and served as Chief-Librarian of Hunan Provincial Library.
In 1926, he became a professor at Hunan University, he became its president in June 1927, and held that office until July 1929.