Ding Zilin (Chinese: 丁子霖; pinyin: Dīng Zǐlín; born December 20, 1936, or January 1, 1939[1]) is a retired professor of philosophy and the leader of the political activist group Tiananmen Mothers.

Ding's seventeen-year-old son, Jiang Jielian, was one of the first to be killed[4] when the People's Liberation Army crushed the Tiananmen Square protests.

Harassment continued when on September 9, 1994, she was arrested in front of the university and held by police for two hours, for having had published an article in the foreign media "hurtful to the people".

[7] In 2004, she and other Tiananmen Mothers were put under house arrest shortly before the 15th anniversary of the massacre to prevent them from holding any public memorial or protest.

[12] Because of Ding Zilin's efforts, Amnesty International has a political campaign to put pressure on the Chinese government to acknowledge and apologize for the deaths of so many citizens.

Amnesty applauded the Chinese government in June 2007 for allowing Ding Zilin, her husband and two other dead citizens’ kin to light candles west of Tiananmen Square.

[13] Despite the minimal recognition from the government, Amnesty urges Chinese authorities to allow open debate and more public memorials in order to help improve Chinas human rights record and the image of Beijing on the international stage.

[13] Ding Zilin and human rights groups demand the Chinese government to stop labelling the student protest with political jargon such as "counter-revolutionary rebellion".

Over the past twenty years in public letters published by multiple sources including Human Rights in China, The China Post, The New York Times, Time and Amnesty International, the Tiananmen Mothers continue to publish a list of demands: Despite her multiple arrests and constant surveillance, civil disobedience is Ding Zilin's daily choice, she never stops using her voice to speak out in non-violent ways against the violations of human rights committed by the Chinese government.

On April 5, 2004, Time magazine said that Ding Zilin is "the symbolic leader for many people in China who want the government to account for its actions that night.

[17] He suggests "behind the bravado, the party is as fearful as a deer in the headlights," of displays of support that show that despite government efforts to erase history many refuse to forget.

[18] Ding Zilin uses her son's story to spread the message of human rights in China and feels it should be a central political issue.