Di Renjie

Di Renjie (Chinese狄仁杰, Pinyin Dí Renjie; * 630, † 700) was a Chinese official of the Tang Dynasty who was known for his fight against corruption. He was under the empress Wu Zetian twice chancellor of the Chinese Empire and is the model for Judge Di, the hero of a series of detective novels by the Dutch diplomat and writer Robert van Gulik.

Life

About his early life little is known. He arrived in Taiyuan on the world, his grandfather Di Shaoshu was Vice-Chancellor under Emperor Tang Taizong. 686 he became mayor of Gansu. As he showed great skill in dealing with the non- Han Chinese population, he enjoyed great popularity.

688 he was removed for criticizing Zhang Guangsun of the Office, later used as mayor of Fuzhou. In September of that year he was appointed Chancellor and was responsible for external affairs. In February 693, he was arrested for defamation of Wu Chengyi.

696 occupied forces the Khitan an important city in Hebei. In order to stabilize the situation, Empress Wu Zetian appointed him as mayor of the city Weizhou.

In October 697 he was called back to the court and for the second time chancellor, a position he held until his death. He moved to Empress Wu, the former Emperor Tang Zhongzong to appoint Crown Prince to gain the support of the people. Di Renjie 698 was appointed deputy commander against external invasions. After his death in 700, he was highly honored by the Court, Empress Wu expressed her feelings with the four characters朝堂 空 也to express that the Court Di Renjie without had become empty.

His two sons, Tu Guang - se and Di Ching- hui, were also civil servants, and his grandson Di Djien -mo later became governor of the capital of the empire.

In later times the acumen Di Renjies and its ability to solve crimes became proverbial and he was the hero of a series of short stories and at least one Chinese detective novel entitled Di Gong An.

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