Lin Yutang (1895-1976) was born in Longxi county, East China's Fujian province. He was a renowned writer, translator and linguist in China.

Lin studied for his bachelor's degree at Saint John's University in Shanghai in 1912. He then taught at Tsinghua University. In 1919, he continued study at Harvard University, and in 1922 obtained a master's degree in literature. He completed his requirements for a doctorate at the University of Leipzig in 1923.

After he returned to China in 1923, he served as professor at Peking University and dean and director of Peking Women's Normal University.

Lin became one of the main writers of the weekly publication Yusi (《语丝》) after 1924. He became the dean of the literature department in Xiamen University in 1926 and secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs for the Nationalist Party in 1927.

He was founder and editor-in-chief of three humor magazines, Lunyu (《论语》), Renshijian (《人世间》) and Yuzhoufeng (《宇宙风》). The three magazines were founded respectively in 1932, 1934 and 1935.

After 1935, Lin lived mainly in the United States. He wrote some well received epics in English, such as My Country and My People (《吾国与吾民》), Moment in Peking (《京华烟云》) and A Leaf in the Storm (《风声鹤唳》), during that time.

In 1944, he returned to Chongqing to give lectures. In 1945, he went to Singapore and served as president of Nanyang University. In 1952, he co-founded Tianfeng (《天风》) magazine in the United States.

He settled in Taiwan in 1966. In 1967, he was appointed professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and was elected vice president of PEN International in 1975. He died in Hong Kong in 1976.