His grandfather, Di Xiaoxu (狄孝緒), served as Shangshu Zuo Cheng (尚書左丞), a secretary general of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng), and his father, Di Zhixun (狄知遜), served as the prefect of Kui Prefecture (夔州, modern eastern Chongqing).

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 (河南道, the region immediately south of the Yellow River), which Bian Prefecture belonged to, he was asked to judge the case.

He recommended Di to become a bailiff for the commandant at Bing Prefecture (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).

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 (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan), against Empress Dowager Wu, she made Di, who was at that time Wenchang Zuo Cheng (文昌左丞), a secretary general at the executive bureau (which by that point had been renamed Wenchang Tai (文昌臺)), the prefect of Yu Prefecture to succeed Li Zhen.

At Di's request, they were relieved from those obligations, but were exiled to Feng Prefecture (豐州, roughly modern Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia).

As of 691, Di was serving as the military advisor to the prefect of the capital prefecture of Luo Prefecture (洛州, i.e., Luoyang), when Wu Zetian promoted him to be the deputy minister of finance (地官侍郎, Diguan Shilang) and gave him the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a 'de facto chancellor.'

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 (崔宣禮), Lu Xian (盧獻), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (李嗣真), of treason.

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 (彭澤, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi).

Di, on the other hand, repeatedly argued to her that it is more proper for her to make her son her heir, and that Li Dan's brother, Li Zhe, the Prince of Luling, himself a former emperor that Wu Zetian removed in 684, be recalled to the capital, a suggestion echoed by fellow chancellors Wang Fangqing and Wang Jishan, and Wu Zetian began to agree.

Di responded: Wu [(the second character of "parrot," yingwu (鸚鵡)) is a homophone of Your Imperial Majesty's family name.

Fearful that other officials would trouble the people with demands for luxury items, he made a good example of eating unrefined foods and prohibiting harassment of the citizens.

On 12 January 700,[2] Wu Zetian made Di Neishi (內史), the head of the legislative bureau (鳳閣, Fengge) and a post also considered one for a chancellor.

Di died in November that year, and it was said that she wept bitterly, stating, "The Southern Palace [(i.e., the imperial administration)] is now empty."

Prior to his death, Di had recommended many capable officials, including Zhang Jianzhi, Yao Yuanchong, Huan Yanfan, and Jing Hui.

As these officials were later instrumental in overthrowing Wu Zetian in 705 and returning Li Xian to the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong), Di was often credited as having restored Tang by proxy.

Van Gulik's series of detective novels was not translated into Chinese until the 1980s, when Professor Zhao Yiheng 赵毅衡, during his studies at the Institute of Foreign Languages of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan waiwen yanjiusuo 中国社会科学院外文研究所), “re-discovered” it in the National Library of Beijing.

In 1981, he wrote an article entitled The Western Di gong’an that win universal acclaim (Kuaizhi renkou de xiyang Digong’an 脍炙人口的西洋狄公案) to introduce to the Chinese reader van Gulik's series, and published it in Zhonghua dushubao (中华读书报) and later, on Renmin Ribao (人民日报).

After that, Cheng Laiyuan, his wife, and two of his friends worked hard from the spring of 1981 until the summer of 1986, and finally all van Gulik's stories were published in China under the title Di Renjie solves cases at the court of the Great Tang (Da Tang Di gong’an 大唐狄公案).

Each of van Gulik's stories were adapted into one, two, or three episodes, although some simplifications were made due to the small screen requirements.

Here, Di Renjie's representation resonates strongly with the age-old literary tradition of “pure officials” that had enjoyed enduring popularity in the past.

Some characters in the television series are fictionalised versions of historical figures, including Wu Zetian and Di Renjie himself.

The story usually follows a pattern of a seemingly small case gradually leading to Di Renjie uncovering a sinister plot that threatens the Chinese empire.

Kent Cheng portrayed Di Renjie in the 2009 Hong Kong television series The Greatness of a Hero, produced by TVB.

Andy Lau played Di Renjie in the 2010 film Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame directed by Tsui Hark.

In 2012, Bigben Interactive released a video game based on Di Renjie named Judge Dee: The City God Case.