Born in Chiayi, Taiwan, Lin Yushan was named by a famous literati Su Yingcun in 1929. His talent was discovered in his early age and was considered as one of the “Taiten's Up-and-Coming Talents”in Taiwan, along with Chen Jin and Kuo Hsueh-Hu. He taught at Provincial Chiayi Senior High School. In 1951, he was hired by the Art Department of National Taiwan Normal University until his retirement.