Gu Lin-Shi, also known as He-Yi and Xijin Yu-Fu, was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu. His father, Gu Wen-Bin, was a famous Chinese paintings collector in Qing dynasty, with a prominent collection of Song and Yuan paintings. Gu Lin-Shi was keen on learning from ancient paintings. His landscape paintings were elegant and simplistic, echoing with the style of the Four Wangs. In 1895, he established "Yiyuan Art Group" with Wu Da-Zheng in Suzhou. The group was led by Wu Da-Zheng and members included Wu Qiu-Nong, Gu Ruo-Bo, Wang Tong-Yu, Lu Lian-Fu, Fei Nian-Ci, Jin Xin-Lan, Ni Mo-Geng, Wu Chang-Shuo, Zheng Wen-Zhuo, Weng Shou-Qi and Ren Li-Fan. Members of the group exchanged ideas in techniques and ideologies. Among the members, Gu was closest with Lu Lian-Fu. Together, they created numerous collaborative paintings, that were marked with a seal "Works of Gu and Lu".