Lin Hongnian (Chinese: 林鴻年, 1805–1885) was a politician, writer and calligrapher of the Qing dynasty. Lin was born in Houguan county, Fuzhou. In 1836, he achieved the highest score in the Imperial examination and was appointed as the senior compiler in the Hanlin Academy (翰林院修撰). He was the first zhuangyuan from Fujian during the Qing dynasty. Two years later, the Chinese Qing court sent him as the chief envoy to Ryukyu Kingdom for the investiture of Shō Iku, while (高人鑑) was the deputy envoy. The mission had stayed in Ryukyu for 160 days, and Lin wrote down an official account of the Ryukyu islands entitled Shi Liuqiu-lu (使琉球錄), however this book was lost. He also compiled a document titled Nautical Route from Fujian to Ryukyus (福建往琉球針路) together with Gao Renjian.