◎Di Renjie

Di Renjie (630-700),who styled himself as Huaiying,was a native of Taiyuan,Bingzhou in the Tang Dynasty. In the early years of Empress Wu Zetian's reign,he served as the Deputy Minister of Finance and Deputy Chancellor but was later falsely imprisoned by Lai Junchen and demoted to be the magistrate of Pengze County. In 696,Jizhou fell into the hands of Khitan. In fear of their attack,the governor forced local residents to protect the city and build fortifications. Wu Zetian promoted Di to be the prefect there. Upon arrival,he skillfully adopted the strategy of presenting a bold front to conceal a weak defense,which saved the people from being killed and looted and made the Khitan soldiers retreat overnight. To repay his kindness,people built a shrine for him. On the first day of every lunar month,the residents of Wei Prefecture would come to the shrine to worship Di. Later,the shrine was destroyed. In 812,governor Tian Hongzheng asked the court to rebuild the ancestral hall of Di Renjie and erected a monument there.(https://www.daowen.com)