In those days Taiwan was already a Japanese colony. After the Qing court ceded Taiwan to Japan, the Lin clan had moved lock, stock and barrel to Xiamen (Amoy) to avoid the clutches of the Japanese. Lin Heng-tao's grandmother came from one of Fuzhou's leading clans (and was the younger sister of the Qing Assistant Grand Tutor Chen Bao-zhu).
當時，台灣已是日本殖民地，而林本源家族在清廷割台後，為了逃避日本人的糾纏，舉族遷至廈門，加上林衡道祖母家是福州望族（祖母是清太傅陳寶琛的妹妹）。