Wang Lin (王琳; 526 – 22 November 573), courtesy name Ziheng (子珩), formally Prince Zhongwu of Baling (巴陵忠武王), was a general of the Chinese Liang Dynasty and Northern Qi dynasties. He initially became prominent during Emperor Yuan of Liang's campaign against the rebel general Hou Jing, and later, after Emperor Yuan was defeated and killed by Western Wei forces in 554, he maintained a separate center of power from the dominant general of the remaining Liang provinces, Chen Baxian. After Chen Baxian seized the Liang throne in 557 and established the Chen Dynasty (as Emperor Wu), Wang, with Northern Qi support, declared the Liang prince Xiao Zhuang emperor in 558, making Xiao Zhuang one of the three contestants for the Southern Dynasty throne, against Chen Baxian and Emperor Xuan of Western Liang, supported by Western Wei. In 560, while trying to attack Chen Baxian's nephew and successor Emperor Wen of Chen, Wang was defeated, and both he and Xiao Zhuang fled to Northern Qi. Wang subsequently served as a Northern Qi general, and during a major Chen offensive against Northern Qi in 573, he was captured by the Chen general Wu Mingche and executed.

Wang Lin was born in 526, and while his father's name was not recorded in history, his father was said to be a military officer, and Wang Lin grew up studying the military doctrines. His family was from Kuaiji Commandery along the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay. During the reign of Emperor Wu, Wang Lin had two sisters (one older, one younger) who became concubines to Emperor Wu's son, Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong. As Xiao Yi later became an important provincial governor, Wang, even in his youth, served on Xiao Yi's staff and became a key military officer under Xiao Yi. At least one of his brothers, Wang Xun (王珣), was also a military officer under Xiao Yi.

The first historical reference to Wang Lin's military activities was in 549, when Xiao Yi, then governor of the important Jing Province (荊州, modern western Hubei), trying to send food supplies to the provincial armies trying to lift the siege on the capital Jiankang by the rebel general Hou Jing, ordered Wang to escort a large supply of rice to Jiankang's vicinity. Before Wang could arrive at Jiankang, however, he heard news that Jiankang had fallen and the provincial armies had disbanded. Fearful that the supply would be seized by Hou, Wang dumped the rice into the Yangtze River and returned to Jing Province. Xiao Yi soon made him a commandery governor and created him the Marquess of Jianning. In fall 550, Xiao Yi promoted the status of Yichang Commandery to Yi Province, and made Wang its governor.

In 551, Hou launched a major assault on Xiao Yi's territory, commanded by himself and his generals Ren Yue (任約) and Song Zixian (宋子仙), and after Hou made a surprise attack on Jiangxia (江夏, in modern Wuhan, Hubei) and captured it, he headed toward Xiao Yi's headquarters at Jiangling. Wang Lin's brother Wang Xun were among the officers who surrendered. Xiao Yi sent his main forces, commanded by Wang Sengbian, to take up position against Hou's forces at Baling (巴陵, in modern Yueyang, Hunan). Wang Lin served under Wang Sengbian in defending Baling against Hou, and when Hou brought Wang Xun to the frontline, trying to have him persuade Wang Lin to surrender, Wang Lin rebuked him and fired an arrow at him. Wang Xun, embarrassed, withdrew. Soon, Xiao Yi's forces, commanded by Wang Sengbian, fought back and defeated Hou's forces when Hou's food supplies ran out. Hou retreated, while leaving Song in command at Jiangxia. Wang Sengbian put it under siege, and Wang Lin participated in the battle, capturing Song. By this point, Wang Lin became well known for his strong rapport with his troops and how he shared the awards he received with his troops. He had about 10,000 men under him, and most of his soldiers were originally bandits from the region between the Yangtze and the Huai River, but who personally became loyal to him.

In 552, Wang Sengbian advanced on Jiankang and recaptured it, forcing Hou to flee. (Hou was subsequently killed by his own subordinates.) Wang Lin made a major contribution in the recapturing of Jiankang, but drew Wang Sengbian's ire by at times being insubordinate to Wang Sengbian. When Taiji Palace (太極殿) was burned in the confusion following Jiankang's fall, Wang Sengbian worried that Xiao Yi would punish him, and therefore sent reports to Xiao Yi implicating Wang Lin in the fire destroying Taiji Palace, requesting that Wang Lin be executed. Xiao Yi thereafter made Wang Lin the governor of Xiang Province (湘州, modern central Hunan) and ordered him to first report to Jiangling to see him. Wang Lin, realizing that something unusual was happening, sent his army directly to Xiang Province, commanded by his officer Lu Na (陸納), while personally reporting to Jiangling. Once he arrived at Jiangling, Xiao Yi arrested him and executed his deputy, Yin Yan (殷晏). In response, Lu and his forces rebelled against Xiao Yi's son Xiao Fanglüe (蕭方略), whom Xiao Yi had sent to replace Wang Lin, and Lu seized Changsha, the capital of Xiang Province.

During the campaign, Xiao Yi, who had long designs on the throne, finally declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan). However, he was then facing a dire situation—the empire had been ravaged by the wars, and his brother Xiao Ji the Prince of Wuling, who controlled the modern Sichuan and Chongqing, had several months earlier declared himself emperor, contesting Emperor Yuan's presumptive claim.

Meanwhile, Lu Na continued his campaign of resistance, hoping to force Emperor Yuan to free Wang Lin. He captured Emperor Yuan's generals Ding Daogui (丁道貴) and Li Hongya (李洪雅), executing Ding and making Li a nominal leader of the resistance. However, his subsequent attack on Baling was repelled by Emperor Yuan's cousin Xiao Xun (蕭循) the Marquess of Yifeng. Emperor Yuan then sent Wang Sengbian to assist Xiao Xun, and they attacked Lu together, defeating him and forcing him back to Changsha, which Wang Sengbian then put under siege but was not able to capture quickly. Meanwhile, Xiao Ji's forces were approaching Jiangling, and Emperor Yuan, wanting to pull Wang Sengbian's forces to resist Xiao Ji but feared that he would then lose control over Lu, sent Wang Lin to the frontline to have him to persuade Lu to surrender. Lu was willing to surrender but wanted Wang Lin to take over the command. Eventually, Emperor Yuan agreed, pardoning Wang Lin and putting him back in charge of his original forces. Wang Lin then prepared to respond to Xiao Ji's attack, although Xiao Ji was defeated and killed before he could reach the frontlines.

Meanwhile, Emperor Yuan, while having pardoned Wang Lin, still was apprehensive about the strength of his forces and his rapport with them, made him the governor of Guang Province (廣州, modern central Guangdong), against Wang Lin's wishes to guard Liang's northern borders with Western Wei in spring 554. In fall 554, while Wang Lin was still on the way to Guang Province, Western Wei launched a major attack on Jiangling (which Emperor Yuan had made capital). Upon hearing that Jiangling was under attack, Wang immediately turned his army around and headed for Jiangling, but before he could reach Jiangling, it fell. Around the new year 555, the Western Wei forces put Emperor Yuan to death and declared Emperor Yuan's nephew Xiao Cha the Emperor of Liang (as Emperor Xuan), to be a vassal to Western Wei. Xiao Cha's state is known in history as the Western Liang.