Mengfei Lin

Lin Mengfei, alias Zihui, was born on May 26, 1909, in Taipei, Taiwan. His grandfather Lin Gangyuan came from Shibi Village, Shishi, Jinjiang County. Lin Mengfei had four brothers; in his youth his family moved to coastal regions. His education included graduating from Yanling Elementary School at age 14, then attending Zhonghua High School, under the old education system a two-year middle school.

In 1925, after the Shanghai May 30 incident, a nationwide wave of anti-imperialist movements arose. Lin Mengfei left school to join the student-militias training led by Chen Wenlin. He then applied to the Whampoa Military Academy and enlisted, receiving training during the recruit phase, and was subsequently assigned to the 11th Army, 24th Division, serving as an instructor in the 72nd Regiment’s company. In 1929, the unit went to Wuchang for further training and fought in Fujian, Jiangxi, and other places. Due to injuries, he could not accompany the unit into combat positions and returned to Shanghai. Thereafter he, together with Communist Party members Lin Jianteng and Zhang Kemin and others, returned to Shanghai, fled to Fujian, and carried out underground activities under the alias “Zi Hui.”

From May 1928 to April 1929, Lin Mengfei, under an alias, studied at the Infantry Department of the Nanjing Officer Corps; after graduation he was assigned to the 49th Division under Zhang Zhen, serving as a captain’s adjutant and later promoted to battalion commander with the rank of major. After the 19th Route Army entered Fujian, he left the unit and transferred to Shanghai’s Public Security Office as captain of a company. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he held multiple positions in Fujian: February–March 1934 in Fuzhou attending an officers’ class; May–December 1934 attending the Lushan Military Instructors’ Training Class; January 1936–May 1937 in Yongchun County, Fujian, serving as a training instructor for the local training corps. In May 1938 he was promoted to county magistrate of Wuyeing (Wuying) County, later serving as county magistrate of Yongtai, as colonel of the Anti-Enemy Self-Defense Regiment in Nan’an, and as county magistrate of Putian. In May 1940 he was reappointed Putian County Magistrate, responsible for coastal defense and fiscal rectification. In October 1942 he was promoted to colonel and chief of the Second Security Regiment of Fujian Province, stationed in Jinjiang and Nan’an.

After the war of resistance he briefly engaged in business. From 1946 to 1948 he served as representative of the Nanjing National Government. In January 1948 he was promoted to director of the Training Section of Fujian Province Security Command, and later served as commissioner of the Fourth Administrative Office and as brigadier-general of the Security Command.

From 1948 on, Lin Mengfei participated in underground activities in the Min (Fujian) region, maintaining contact with guerrilla forces in central Fujian and underground organizations, operating in Xiamen, Quanzhou and other places, assisting intelligence work and liaison of personnel. In 1949 he participated in public security work around Xiamen before and after its liberation, relaying military intelligence to the People’s Liberation Army and taking part in the handover of local institutions. After liberation, Lin Mengfei observed improved social order in Xiamen and advocated a lenient policy toward hidden reactionary elements, encouraging their self-reform.

From 1951 he shifted into business and industry, founding Feida Photo Chemical Industry Co., which researched photosensitive materials and produced photographic paper, gradually developing into an important photosensitive-materials factory in the Xiamen area. In 1956, within the framework of a public-private partnership, he established Xiamen Photosensitive Plant, served as its director, and the plant introduced technology and equipment from Kodak and other sources to produce color film, photographic paper, and related materials. He was affected during the Cultural Revolution; after the reform and opening era he continued to participate in political and economic activities, actively engaging with the CPPCC and other democratic parties, promoting local economy and foreign exchanges.

From 1981 he was appointed advisor to the Xiamen Special Economic Zone, serving as head of the Foreign Economic Office advisory group and as deputy general manager and chairman of the Xiamen SEZ Construction and Development Company, directly involved in attracting investment and signing investment projects, such as a joint venture with Hong Kong Baotun Property Investment Company and the Urban Construction Development Company to build Huáqiáo New Village, with total investment amounting to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

In 1984, he accompanied a Fujian Provincial CPPCC delegation to Hong Kong, facilitating donations of equipment by patriotic overseas Chinese and helping establish the Jiannan Textile Factory in Shanghang. In the same year he was named by the central committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association (the Democratic Progressive Party, 民革) as an “Advanced Individual for Four Modernizations Services.”

Winter 1993, Lin Mengfei was hospitalized due to a heart attack; on August 15, 1994, at 0:50, he passed away in Xiamen, aged 86. His body was cremated on Tianma Mountain, and the funeral was held with solemnity.

In terms of published writings, Lin Mengfei authored works such as “Memories of General Li Liangrong” and “Notes on the Annihilation of Zhang Zhen’s 49th Division.” His children and grandchildren engaged in arts and business in Hong Kong and mainland China; his grandson Lin Feng is a well-known artist in Hong Kong.