Lin Xin (廩辛) was a king of the Shang dynasty of China. He succeeded Zu Jia and was succeeded by Geng Ding. Little is known about him outside of succession records in historical annals, and whether he is mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions is unclear.
Names
The name Lin Xin comes from Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. In the Bamboo Annals, the name Feng Xin appears and succeeds Zu Jia, the same sequence, and they are thus thought to be the same person. This is reflected in Taiping Yulan, which merges the two into the same chapter.
Reign
Lin ascended the throne in the year of Gengyan (庚寅) in the capital of Yin (殷). He ruled for four years. In the Taiping Yulan, Lin Xin is said to have reigned for six years, citing a passage from Records of the Grand Historian, but said passage is not seen in the received text.
Oracle bone evidence suggests Lin Xin's reign promulgated early forms of education for Shang dynasty religious practitioners, with more than several examples of beginner's handwriting appearing on bones dated to his reign, particularly from the diviner Peng.
123Sima, Qian. "殷本紀". In Sturgeon, Donald (ed.). 史記[Records of the Grand Historian] (in Literary Chinese). Chinese Text Project. Retrieved 27 March 2026. 帝甲崩，子帝廩辛立。帝廩辛崩，弟庚丁立，是為帝庚丁。帝庚丁崩，子帝武乙立。殷復去亳，徙河北。
12Sturgeon, Donald (ed.). "馮辛". 竹書紀年[Zhushu Jinian] (in Literary Chinese). Chinese Text Project. Retrieved 27 March 2026. 元年庚寅，王即位，居殷。四年，陟。
12Sturgeon, Donald (ed.). "帝廩辛". 太平御覽[Taiping Yulan] (in Literary Chinese). Chinese Text Project. Retrieved 27 March 2026. 《史記》曰：帝廩辛在位六年，崩，弟庚丁立。《紀年》曰：馮辛先居殷。
↑Smith, Adam (2011). "Evidence for Scribal Training in Anyang". In Feng, Li; Banner, David Prager (eds.). Writing & literacy in early China: studies from the Columbia Early China Seminar. Seattle: University of Washington press. pp.196–200. ISBN9780295991528.
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