Lin Family

Biodata

History

Rise in the opium trade

Lin Liangyi entered the opium trade with his brothers Lin Wenyi and Lin Huayi, establishing the family as a wealthy Hong Kong household. His son Lin Xizhen studied in Hawaii and at Queen’s College, worked for HSBC, and later built a business transporting timber between Nanyang and Hong Kong 298 514.

Lin Xizhen expanded the family’s opium business and secured exclusive opium rights in Macau. In 1928, shortly after a dispute over the monopoly, an assassin shot him dead in Hong Kong. The family withdrew from Macau and relied on Jardine’s backing to stabilize its affairs 299 491 510 512.

Reorganization under Lin Xiaoze

After Lin Xizhen’s death, the first madam sent away children born to concubines. Lin Yujing was married off in 1929 to Feng Youhua, who later died, leaving her to raise their daughter in poverty 299.

In 1945, Lin Xiaoze returned to Hong Kong and offered concubine-born brothers and unmarried or widowed sisters a place in the household, with allowances and schooling for their children. In return, the family controlled the children’s marriages and jobs; relatives who wished to leave had to repay their expenses and sever ties 299.

The family stopped dealing in opium and expanded into hotels, construction, shipping and trade. During the Korean War, it acquired interests across industries at low prices, while retaining substantial land and property accumulated under Lin Xizhen 481.

Conflict with Song Tianyao

Song Tianyao initially bought Xizhen Properties shares intending to profit and trade them for undeveloped land. He agreed to withdraw after Lin Yujing asked him not to fight her family, but renewed the confrontation when she and her daughter Feng Yunzhi were hospitalized; Yunzhi had suffered a cut to her neck 496 499 501 508.

The Lins used their banking connections to restrict Song’s access to loans. Lin Xiaohe also arranged an attempt on Song’s life in Macau through his uncle Lin Xiyuan. After it failed, Xiaohe revealed that Xiyuan and another uncle, Lin Xishen, had died from swallowing opium to protect the family from the fallout 504 516 522.

Collapse

The struggle over Xizhen Properties intensified as the family sought funds to buy back shares. Internal divisions also surfaced: Lin Xiaokang tried to profit from the turmoil, and Lin Xiaohe ordered his death. Xiaohe was later detained, while investigations and publicity placed further pressure on the family 522 539 574 614 623.

The crisis culminated in the first madam’s death, the second madam’s imprisonment for murder, Lin Xiaohe’s imprisonment and Lin Xiao qia’s suicide. The family surrendered Xizhen Properties for cash, and Lin Xiaoze began arranging for the household to leave Hong Kong 658.

Organization and Members

Lin Xiaoze was the public family head and chairman of Xizhen Properties. Behind the scenes, the first madam’s sons Lin Xiaohe and Lin Xiaosen held substantial power: Xiaohe built political connections, while Xiaosen managed business interests 490 496.

• Lin Liangyi — Earlier family patriarch who entered the opium trade 298 514.
• Lin Xizhen — Expanded the opium business and accumulated land and property; killed in 1928 299 481.
• First madam — Lin Xizhen’s legitimate wife; controlled household arrangements after his death and favored Xiaohe and Xiaosen 299 496 507.
• Lin Xiaoze — Eldest son, public family head and chairman of Xizhen Properties 299 490.
• Lin Xiao qia — Second son; helped manage the family business and handled its underworld contacts 490 500 515.
• Lin Xiaohe — Third son; a barrister whose political connections strengthened the family’s position 490 496.
• Lin Xiaosen — Fourth son; involved in the family’s businesses and its efforts to recover Xizhen Properties shares 496 525.
• Lin Xiaojie — Fifth son; married into the Ji Family and later took over the family’s soda factory 545.
• Lin Xiaokang — Sixth son and Lin Yujing’s full brother; resented his mother’s expulsion and later conspired against the family 493 550 574.
• Lin Xiaoda — Youngest brother, who studied business administration at Boston University 490.
• Lin Yujing — Lin Xizhen’s sixth daughter and Song Tianyao’s third aunt by marriage; later agreed to sue the family for a share of its assets 493 653.
• Lin Xishen and Lin Xiyuan — Lin Xizhen’s younger brothers and former representatives in underworld affairs 514.
• Zheng Ruilian — Lin Xizhen’s concubine and the family’s second madam; imprisoned for the first madam’s murder 627 658.
• Sister Xiang — A longtime household servant raised by the Lins after being abandoned as a baby 624.

Businesses and Assets

Xizhen Properties shareholding

Lu Rongfang estimated that repeated share issues had diluted the Lins’ stake to 27–30%, while connected banks and companies held another 15–20%. She believed the family could restore control to nearly 51% by buying back those connected holdings 481.

During the takeover struggle, the Lins sought to recover Jardine’s shares. Tang Boqi proposed raising money by selling shares in other companies they controlled; later, HSBC offered HK$80 million for the family’s Xizhen Properties shares 522 539 643.

Household Rules

• Returning relatives received household allowances and schooling for their children, but the family reserved control over those children’s marriages and jobs 299.
• Relatives who wished to leave or remarry had to repay rent, allowances, tuition and other expenses, then sever relations with the family 299.
• Lin Yujing was housed separately on Ngau Tau Shan rather than in the family mansion. The first madam’s repayment and marriage rules particularly affected her and her underage daughter, Feng Yunzhi 493.
• When Yujing tried to repay the family, Lin Xiaokang accepted HK$27,000 but demanded interest as well and cut her household allowance in half 494.
• A contract later led Song Tianyao to conclude that Yujing and other concubine-born daughters had been sold to their husbands’ families as Mui Tsai, complicating his planned inheritance challenge 602.

Relationships

• Song Tianyao — Lin Yujing’s nephew by marriage and the family’s principal adversary in the struggle over Xizhen Properties 493 508.
• Feng Yunzhi — Lin Yujing’s daughter; her injury intensified Song’s conflict with the Lins 299 499 501.
• Jardine — A longstanding backer that helped stabilize the family after Lin Xizhen’s death and held Xizhen Properties shares during the takeover struggle 491 522.
• Pedro Lobo — A Macau figure who bore a longstanding grudge after failing to take Lin Xizhen’s opium monopoly 511 512.
• He and Lu families — Potential allies sought by Song against the Lins; the Lu Family was expected to support Yujing’s property claim through its legal and political connections 511 636.
• Wo On Lok — An underworld organization whose leader, Su Wenting, dealt with Lin Xiao qia during the conflict 515 516.