Di Renjie (630 – November 11, 700),() Xin Tang Shu, vol.04. Volume 207 of Zizhi Tongjian also recorded the same death date, while Wu Zetian's biography in Old Book of Tang only recorded that he died in the 9th month of that year (recorded as the 3rd year of the Sheng'li era), which corresponds to 17 Oct to 14 Nov 700 in the Julian calendar. His biography in New Book of Tang indicate that he was 71 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. () Xin Tang Shu, vol.115 courtesy name Huaiying (), posthumous name Wenhui (), was a Chinese politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, twice serving as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian. He was one of the most celebrated officials of Wu Zetian's reign. Di Renjie is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang. Born in Yangqu County to a family of officials, he served as the prefect of Ning Prefecture before being recommended to Wu Zetian.
Background Di Renjie was born in Yangqu County, Bing Province, in 630, during the reign of Emperor Taizong. His family, from Taiyuan, was one that had produced many officials. His grandfather, Di Xiaoxu (), served as Shangshu Zuo Cheng (), a secretary general of the executive bureau of government (, Shangshu Sheng), and his father, Di Zhixun (狄知遜), served as the prefect of Kui Prefecture (, modern eastern Chongqing).
Di Renjie was known for being studious in his youth, and after passing the imperial examination served as a secretary at the prefectural government of Bian Prefecture (, roughly modern Kaifeng, Henan). While serving there, he was falsely accused of improprieties by colleagues, and when the minister of public works, Yan Liben, was touring the Henan Circuit (, the region immediately south of the Yellow River), which Bian Prefecture belonged to, he was asked to judge the case. After seeing Di, he was impressed by him, and commented, "Confucius had said, 'You can tell a man's kindness by his failure.' You are a pearl from the coast and a lost treasure of the southeast." He recommended Di to become a bailiff for the commandant at Bing Prefecture (, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).
While at Bing Prefecture, he was said to be caring of others. On one occasion, his colleague Zheng Chongzhi () was ordered to go on an official trip to a place far away. Di, noting that Zheng's mother was old and ill, went to the secretary general Lin Renji () and offered to go in Zheng's stead. It was said that Lin was so touched by the concern that Di showed Zheng as a colleague that he relayed the episode to the military advisor to the prefect, Li Xiaolian (), with whom Lin had a running dispute, and offered peaceful relations to Li.
By 676, during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong, Di was serving as the secretary general at the supreme court (), and it was said that he was an efficient and fair judge, judging some 17,000 cases within a year without anyone complaining about the results. In 676, there was an event in which the general Quan Shancai () and the military officer Fan Huaiyi () accidentally cut cypresses on Emperor Taizong's tomb—an offense punishable by removal from office, but Emperor Gaozong ordered that the two be executed. Di pointed out that, by law, the two should not be executed. This initially offended Emperor Gaozong, who ordered Di to leave his presence. Di continued to object, and eventually, Emperor Gaozong relented and exiled them. Several days later, he appointed Di to the imperial censorate.
Around 679, the minister of agriculture Wei Hongji () built three magnificent palaces around the eastern capital Luoyang—Suyu Palace (), Gaoshan Palace (), and Shangyang Palace (). Di submitted an accusation against Wei, arguing that he was leading Emperor Gaozong into being wasteful, and Wei was removed from his office. Meanwhile, around the same time, the official Wang Benli was said to be favored by Emperor Gaozong and, on account of that favor, was committing many illegal deeds and intimidating other officials. Di accused Wang of crimes; initially, Emperor Gaozong was set to pardon him. At Di's insistence—pointing out that the empire did not lack people with Wang's talent—Emperor Gaozong relented and allowed Wang to be punished.
During Emperor Ruizong's first reign
As of 686, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's son Emperor Ruizong, Di Renjie was serving as the prefect of Ning Prefecture (, roughly modern Qingyang, Gansu). At that time, the censor Guo Han () was commissioned to tour the prefectures in the area, and wherever he went, he found faults with the prefects and corrected them, but when he arrived at Ning Prefecture, it was said that the people had no complaints about Di and praised him greatly. Guo recommended Di to Emperor Ruizong's mother and regent Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), and Di was recalled to Luoyang to serve as deputy minister of public works (, Dongguan Shilang).
In 688, Di was touring the Jiangnan Circuit (, the region south of the Yangtze River). He believed that the region had too many temples dedicated to unusual deities, and at his request, some 1,700 temples were destroyed; only four kinds of temples were allowed to remain—those dedicated to Yu the Great, Wu Taibo (, the legendary founder of the Spring and Autumn period kingdom Wu), Wu Jizha (, a well-regarded Wu prince and son of King Shoumeng of Wu), and Wu Zixu.
Later in 688, in the aftermath of a failed rebellion by Emperor Gaozong's brother Li Zhen the Prince of Yue, then the prefect of Yu Prefecture (, roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan), against Empress Dowager Wu, she made Di, who was at that time Wenchang Zuo Cheng (), a secretary general at the executive bureau (which by that point had been renamed Wenchang Tai ()), the prefect of Yu Prefecture to succeed Li Zhen. At that time, some 600 to 700 households were accused of being complicit in Li Zhen's rebellion and were forced to serve as servants. At Di's request, they were relieved from those obligations, but were exiled to Feng Prefecture (, roughly modern Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia).
Meanwhile, the general that Empress Dowager Wu sent to suppress Li Zhen's rebellion, the chancellor Zhang Guangfu, was still in Yu Prefecture, and his officers and soldiers were demanding various supplies from the Yu prefectural government, requests that Di mostly turned down. This led to an argument with Zhang, and Zhang accused him of showing contempt. In turn, Di angrily stated that Zhang was killing alleged coconspirators of Li Zhen excessively and that if he had the authority to do so, he would have beheaded Zhang even if it meant his own death. Zhang was greatly offended and, upon returning to Luoyang, accused Di of contempt, and Empress Dowager Wu demoted Di to be the prefect of Fu Prefecture (, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi). (This was considered a demotion as, while Di remained a prefect, Fu Prefecture was smaller and less important than Yu Prefecture.)
During Wu Zetian's reign
In 690, Empress Dowager Wu took the throne from Emperor Ruizong, establishing the Zhou dynasty as its "emperor" and interrupting the Tang dynasty. As of 691, Di was serving as the military advisor to the prefect of the capital prefecture of Luo Prefecture (, i.e., Luoyang), when Wu Zetian promoted him to be the deputy minister of finance (, Diguan Shilang) and gave him the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (), making him a 'de facto chancellor.'
She commented to him, "You did a good job in Ru'nan . Do you want to know who spoke against you?" (Presumably, she was referring to Zhang Guangfu who, ironically, was executed by her in 689 on accusations that he had considered rebelling against her.) Di responded:
Wu Zetian was impressed by the response and praised him. Later that year, when the imperial university's student Wang Xunzhi () submitted a petition to Wu Zetian asking her to permit him to go on vacation, she was poised to issue an edict to approve of the request, when Di opposed the edict—not on the merits, but on the basis that university students' vacations were such minor events that she should not bother herself with them, but rather should order that such petitions be directed to the university secretaries. She agreed.
In 692, Wu Zetian's secret police official, Lai Junchen, falsely accused Di, along with other chancellors Ren Zhigu, and Pei Xingben, along with other officials Cui Xuanli (), Lu Xian (), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (), of treason. Lai tried to induce them to confess by citing an imperial edict that stated that those who confessed would be spared their lives, and Di confessed and was not tortured—but when Lai's subordinate Wang Deshou () tried to induce him to implicate another chancellor, Yang Zhirou, he refused. Di then wrote a petition on his blanket and hid it inside cotton clothes, and then had his family members take the clothes home to be changed into summer clothes. Wu Zetian thereafter became suspicious and inquired with Lai, who responded by forging, in the names of Di and the other officials, submissions thanking Wu Zetian for preparing to execute them.
However, the young son of another chancellor who had been executed, Le Sihui, who was seized to be a servant at the ministry of agriculture, made a petition to Wu Zetian and told her that Lai was so skillful at manufacturing charges that even the most honest and faithful individuals would be forced into confessions by Lai. Wu Zetian thereafter summoned the seven accused officials and personally interrogated them, and after they disavowed the forged confessions, released but exiled them—in Di's case, to be the magistrate of Pengze County (, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi).
In 696, during the middle of an attack by the Khitan khan Sun Wanrong against Zhou prefectures north of the Yellow River, Wu Zetian promoted Di to be the prefect of Wei Prefecture (, roughly modern Handan, Hebei). It was said that Di's predecessor Dugu Sizhuang (), in fear of a Khitan attack, had ordered the people of the prefecture to all move within the prefectural capital's walls, drawing much fear and resentment from the people. When Di arrived, he, judging the Khitan forces to be still far away, ordered that the people be allowed to return to their homes and farms, gaining much gratitude from the people. After Sun's forces collapsed in 697 after a surprise attack by the Eastern Tujue khan Ashina Mochuo against his home base, Wu Zetian had Di, the chancellor Lou Shide, and Wu Yizong (), the Prince of Henan (a grandson of her uncle Wu Shiyi ()), to tour the region north of the Yellow River to try to pacify the people.
Later in 697, Di was serving as the commandant at You Prefecture (, roughly modern Beijing), when, at Lou's recommendation, Wu Zetian recalled him to Luoyang to serve as Luantai Shilang (), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (, Luantai), and again gave him the chancellor designation of Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi. He submitted a petition advocating that descendants of Western Tujue and Goguryeo rulers be found and be given their ancient lands, to help defend against Eastern Tujue and Tufan attacks—a petition that was not accepted but was said to be well-regarded by other officials.