He quelled the 1562 uprisings in Chaozhou and Yingde in Guangdong and was subsequently promoted to the Shoubei of Guangdong. Chen participated in various campaigns in Southern China against rebels and peasant uprisings thereafter. In May of the 40th year of the Wanli Emperor, the Ming court awarded Chen as tutor to the crown prince and allowed it to be hereditary. In the 46th year of Wanli, Chen enfeoffed his son Chen Jiuxiang with the title and inheritance.
Korea and Japan
Chen Lin was dispatched in 1598 to help repulse the Japanese in Hideyoshi's Invasions of Korea, working with the Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin. The aid was in response to a request by the Joseon Dynasty. Chen and Yi both fought in the Battle of Noryang, which ended Hideyoshi's attempts to invade Korea. See details in Imjin War section below.
After campaigning in Korea, Chen was promoted and gained control of troops in Hunan and Guangdong. He led troops to quell the Miao uprising in Zunyi, Guizhou province.
Imjin War
In June 1592, in order to fight against the Japanese invasion into Chosun, Chen Lin became Heavenly General of the 7th Battalion. October that year, he was appointed as Shenshuyou Deputy General. In 1593, he became Deputy commander-in-chief of anti-Japanese pirates in Jilin, Liaoning, Baoding, Shandong and other places and deputy commander-in-chief of the General Military Department of Langshouji Town. When the Japanese army stepped down a little bit, the Japanese government was fed up with the war, and on June 17 of that year, Chen was transferred from the Japanese Military Police Department to the Minister of Cooperative Federation. On September 9, 1597, he was appointed as a vice-president and ordered to lead 5,000 soldiers from Guangdong Province to save Joseon. On October 17 of the same year, Chen was officially appointed as a provincial governor because of his contribution to the suppression of the Gwangseo Jamgye immigrants. On February 23, 1598, Chen Lin became the Deputy Governor-General of Japan, authorized and appointed by the secretariat. In 1597, King Seonjo's 30th year of King Seonjo's reign, Chen joined Joseon with 5,000 sailors and established a co-naval force with Yi Sun-sin. Yi greatly admired Chen's leadership and skill in combat. During the naval battle, Admiral Yipassed away, and Chen alongside the other Koreans helped finish off the Japanese. Chen and the Ming used guns to help win the battles and defend Korea. Chen later reported the battle and Yi's death to the Wanli Emperor. He was awarded eight trophies for his prowess in battle. After the war, Koreans and the Ming gave Chen the title Guangdong Master.
Chen died of natural causes, but today, his descendants are spread across Guangdong, Guangxi, and Sichuan provinces, as well as Korea.
Korean descendants
Chen Lin is the founder of one of the Korean clans, Gwangdong Jin clan, and one of his grandsons, Chen Yongsu, settled in Korea. In 1644, at the end of the Ming, Chen Yongsu did not wish to give allegiance to the rising Qing dynasty, so Chen fled to Joseon Korea, where the Korean people warmly welcomed and protected him as a hero's descendant. Chen settled in South Jeolla Province. Today the Gwandong Jin clan has over 300 households and more than 1200-2000 people. Some members traveled to China to celebrate the victory of Chen Lin in the Korea-Japan war. The descendants of Chen in Korea knew their home country was China, but they did not know where exactly in China, until recent research.
