Overview

Lin Changmin (1879-1925), known also by his sobriquet (Ch., zi) Songman, was born in Minhou County, Fujian Province, China. He came to Japan to study politics at Waseda University in Tokyo and graduated in 1909. Upon his return to China, he became the secretary general of the local assembly and an instructor of law and politics in Fujian Province. In the autumn of Xuantong 3 (1911), he had a disagreement with revolutionary radicals and moved to Nanjing, where he worked for the revolutionary leader Huang Xing (1874-1916). With the formation of the Nanjing government, Lin Changmin became a member to codify its new laws and was selected as an assemblyman to the provisional assembly of Fujian, but declined the position to move north and become the secretary of the House of Councilors in Beijing.