Ren Weiyin was born in Kunming, Yunnan on May 19 1918. He graduated from Shanghai Xinhua Art Technical College in 1936. He was once a researcher in Painting Research Institute in Shanghai Fine Arts College. During the Anti-Japanese War, he taught in Chongqin Southwest Fine Arts College, National Art College and some other schools. He worked in Shanghai Fine Arts School after 1949 and he was an editor of Chinese Tourism magazine. He became a librarian in Shanghai Culture and History Museum after that.