Li Ding

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Li Ding was born in Yangzhou in 1028, the sixth year of the Tiansheng era. The surviving sources say little about his family background, recording only that he did not come from a prominent official household but from an ordinary scholar family. Li Ding was intelligent and studious from childhood and progressed smoothly through the examination system. In 1057, the second year of Jiayou, he passed the jinshi examination at the nominal age of thirty. That year's examination was presided over by Ouyang Xiu and became famous for producing numerous talented men; Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zeng Gong, and others passed in the same cohort.

After receiving the jinshi degree, Li Ding began his official career as county commandant of Dingyuan. During the Jiayou era (1056–1063), he successively held subordinate local posts in Qizhou, Mingzhou, and elsewhere. He was known in local office for efficiency and pragmatism and accumulated administrative experience. The real turning point in his career, however, came after the introduction of the New Policies of Wang Anshi.

Entry into Court and the New Policies

In 1069, the second year of Xining, Wang Anshi became a vice chief councillor and began implementing the New Policies. Li Ding actively supported the reform program and won Wang Anshi's appreciation. In 1070, the third year of Xining, Wang Anshi recommended Li Ding for appointment as Left Attendant to the Heir Apparent and probationary Investigating Censor. This appointment triggered a well-known dispute involving three drafting officials.

At the time, Song Minqiu, Su Song, and Li Dalin, all serving as drafters of edicts, believed Li Ding's unusually rapid promotion violated institutional norms and refused to draft the appointment edict. They returned the drafting order and declined to implement it. Emperor Shenzong repeatedly sent officials to press them, but the three maintained their position. In the end, Song Minqiu and the others were dismissed and Li Ding took office. The episode caused a major controversy and became one of the early flashpoints of the conflict between reform and conservative factions. Li Ding was thereafter regarded as a firm supporter of the New Policies and became a target of conservative criticism.

Not long after the incident, Li Ding was impeached and sent out of the capital to govern Haizhou. In 1072, the fifth year of Xining, he returned to court and entered the Remonstrance Bureau, again moving into the political center. Over the next several years he served in the Drafting Office, the Remonstrance Bureau, and other institutions, gradually becoming an important member of the New Policies faction.

Censor-in-Chief and the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial

By 1079, the second year of Yuanfeng, Li Ding had risen to Censor-in-chief. That year he took a leading role in investigating the famous Crow Terrace Poetry Trial of the Northern Song.

Su Shi, then serving as prefect of Huzhou, had included phrases in his “Memorial of Thanks upon Appointment to Huzhou” that were accused of ridiculing government policy. Censors He Zhengchen, Shu Dan, and others impeached Su Shi, and Li Ding, as Censor-in-chief, was responsible for handling the case. Li Ding submitted a memorial accusing Su Shi of harboring malicious intentions and resentment toward the ruler and cited passages in Su's poetry said to ridicule the New Policies. Su Shi was arrested and imprisoned in the Censorate, where he suffered harsh treatment.

The Crow Terrace Poetry Trial lasted several months. It concluded in the twelfth month of the same year, when Su Shi was demoted to the post of assistant military commissioner of Huangzhou. The case implicated many people, including Wang Shen, Wang Gong, and Su Zhe. As the principal official responsible for the proceedings, Li Ding took a severe approach, and later literary works often portrayed him as sinister and harsh.

High Office and Fall from Power

After the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial, Li Ding's career continued to advance. In 1082, the fifth year of Yuanfeng, he served on trial appointment as Minister of Personnel. He later held major posts including Hanlin Academician and drafter of edicts. In 1085, the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong died, producing a fundamental political change.

After Emperor Zhezong succeeded, Empress Dowager Gao ruled as regent and the conservative faction returned to power. In 1086, the first year of Yuanyou, Li Ding was demoted to govern Suizhou because of his association with the New Policies faction. In 1087, the second year of Yuanyou, he was further demoted to superintendent of Dongxiao Palace. He died in exile the same year at the nominal age of sixty.

Major Activities

Political Activity

Li Ding was a committed supporter of the New Policies of Wang Anshi and held a succession of important offices during the reform period. He actively participated in the implementation of the new measures and, while serving in the remonstrance and censorial institutions, repeatedly submitted memorials supporting the reforms and impeaching officials who opposed them. His political position was clear, and he therefore became one of the principal targets of conservative criticism.

Crow Terrace Poetry Trial

The most controversial episode of Li Ding's career was his role in the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial. In 1079, the second year of Yuanfeng, as Censor-in-chief he impeached Su Shi for allegedly ridiculing government policy and presided over the investigation. The case is regarded as a representative Northern Song prosecution over writings. It had a profound effect on Su Shi's career and literary activity and left Li Ding with a strongly negative reputation in later historical memory.

Relations with Contemporaries

Li Ding was close to Wang Anshi and was an important supporter of Wang within the censorial and remonstrance apparatus. He came into conflict with Song Minqiu, Su Song, and Li Dalin over the dispute involving the three drafting officials and became a political enemy of Su Shi through the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial. He also had relatively close political relations with other New Policies figures such as Shu Dan and He Zhengchen.

Personal Relations

Family

• Father: deeds unknown
• Son: Li Zishen, a different person from others of the same name; deeds unknown

Mentors and Associates

• Wang Anshi: political patron who recommended Li Ding for court office
• Shu Dan: colleague who joined in the impeachment of Su Shi
• He Zhengchen: colleague who joined in the impeachment of Su Shi

Ruler–Subject Relations

• Emperor Shenzong of Song: relied on Li Ding during his reign
• Empress Dowager Gao: ruled as regent under Emperor Zhezong and demoted Li Ding

Conflicts

• Song Minqiu: conflict over the dispute involving the three drafting officials
• Su Song: conflict over the dispute involving the three drafting officials
• Li Dalin: conflict over the dispute involving the three drafting officials
• Su Shi: political opponent in the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial

Historical Assessment

Northern Song / Contemporary Period

• Song Minqiu and the other two drafting officials believed Li Ding's rapid promotion violated institutional procedure and refused to draft his appointment edict, showing contemporary doubts about his advancement.
• After the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial, Su Shi retained resentment toward Li Ding, and some of his writings contain indirect attacks on him.
• Conservative officials such as Sima Guang and Lü Gongzhu regarded Li Ding as an accomplice of the New Policies of Wang Anshi and assessed him negatively.

Southern Song and Yuan Periods

• The “Biography of Li Ding” in the History of Song lists him as an important member of the New Policies faction and says that he devoted himself to reform, but it does not place him in the “Biographies of Treacherous Ministers.”
• Southern Song scholar Li Tao recorded Li Ding's political activities in detail in the Extended Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government and treated him relatively objectively.
• Southern Song writers generally regarded Li Ding as one of the principal figures responsible for the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial and took a critical view of him.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Ming thinker Wang Fuzhi, in his writings on the Song, criticized Li Ding and other members of the New Policies faction, arguing that they intensified factional struggle and contributed to the deterioration of Northern Song politics.
• Qing scholar Bi Yuan recorded Li Ding's political activities in the Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, largely following the judgment of the History of Song.
• Qing scholar Zhao Yi mentioned the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial in Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories and criticized Li Ding's conduct.

Modern Period

• Deng Guangming, in Wang Anshi, Political Reformer of the Northern Song, mentions Li Ding as a supporter of the New Policies without giving special emphasis to his individual role.
• Modern scholarship on Li Ding has focused mainly on the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial, treating him as a representative case in the factional struggles of the Northern Song.
• Scholars generally regard Li Ding as a committed executor of the New Policies of Wang Anshi, but his role in the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial left him with a negative historical image.