Lin Handa

Lin Handa was born on February 17, 1900, in Lingxu Township, Zhenhai County, Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province (now Longshan Town, Cixi, Ningbo), into a poor peasant family. Through diligence and self-support, he pursued his education and enrolled at Chongxin Middle School in Ningbo in 1917. After graduation, he worked as a teacher at Chongren Primary School and Chongxin Middle School. In 1921, he entered Hangchow University (Zhijiang University) and graduated in 1924. He subsequently taught at Siming Middle School in Ningbo but was dismissed for sheltering and assisting progressive students.^[2]

In 1928, Lin moved to Shanghai and worked as an English editor at the Commercial Press's World Book Company, later becoming head of the English editorial department. In 1937, he went to the United States to pursue graduate studies at Colorado State University, specializing in mass education, and obtained a doctoral degree two years later.^[3] He returned to China in 1939 and served as a professor at Zhijiang University in Shanghai. After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he remained in Shanghai, where he conducted research on Latinization and wrote popularized historical works.^[4]

At the end of 1945, Lin, together with Ma Xulun, Wang Shao'ao, and Xu Guangping, initiated the establishment of the China Association for Promoting Democracy. In 1946, he actively participated in democratic movements in Shanghai, including public assemblies and civic organizations advocating against civil war and for democracy.^[5] Due to persecution by the Kuomintang government, he was forced to relocate to the Northeast China Liberated Area under arrangements by the Chinese Communist underground. There, under the alias Lin Tao, he served as chairman of the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, director of the Dalian New Writing Association, editor-in-chief of Guanghua Bookstore, and later as head of the Education Department of Liaobei Province and vice president of Liaobei College.^[6]

In 1949, Lin attended the preparatory meetings for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as a representative of the China Association for Promoting Democracy and participated in drafting the Organizational Law of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. On September 21, 1949, he attended the first plenary session of the CPPCC held at Huairen Hall in Beijing. In 1950, he was appointed professor and dean of studies at Yenching University, concurrently serving as director of the Department of Social Education under the Ministry of Education.^[7]

In the early 1950s, Lin held several important positions in language reform and education, including vice chairman of the National Literacy Commission and member of the State Language Commission. In 1954, he was appointed Vice Minister of Education. He also served on the Committee for the Reform of the Chinese Written Language and participated in the promotion of Standard Chinese. During this period, he was involved in work related to Tibet as deputy head of a central government delegation.^[8]

During the Anti-Rightist Campaign, Lin was wrongly labeled a rightist and suffered political persecution. During the Cultural Revolution, he was further subjected to unjust treatment and was sent to perform labor in a cadre school in Pingluo, Ningxia. In June 1972, he was returned to Beijing due to serious illness. Shortly after completing the proofreading of a translation manuscript entrusted to him by Zhou Enlai, he died of a heart attack on July 26, 1972, at the age of 72.^[9] On July 23, 1979, a memorial service was held at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing, where he was officially rehabilitated.^[10][11]