Lu Dingyi joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1925, while he was studying electrical engineering at the Nanyang Public School.

A political commissar in the PLA, Lu Dingyi gave important contributions to the revolutionary struggle in Shaanxi along with other top leaders like Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Ren Bishi, according to his official biography.

In May 1966 he was accused of being part of the "Peng-Luo-Lu-Yang anti-Party clique" (the others being Peng Dehuai, Luo Ruiqing and Yang Shangkun) and dismissed.

He was also criticised for his activity in the Five Man Group, a Central Committee agency in charge of leading the first stages of the Cultural Revolution led by Peng Zhen, another purged official.

01 Internal Affairs Qian Ying → Zeng Shan 02 Foreign Affairs Chen Yi P 03 National Defense Peng DehuaiP → Lin BiaoP 04 Public Security Luo Ruiqing → Xie Fuzhi 05 National Basic Construction Commission Chen YunPSC 06 State Planning Commission Li FuchunP 07 National Economic Commission Bo Yibo 08 National Science and Technology Commission Nie Rongzhen 09 Finance Li XiannianP 010 Food Sha Qianli 011 Commerce Cheng Zihua → Yao Yilin 012 Foreign Trade Ye Jizhuang 013 Aquatic Products Xu Deheng 014 Metallurgical Industry Wang Heshou 015 Chemical Industry Peng Tao 016 First Ministry of Machine Building Zhao Erlu → Duan Junyi 017 Second Ministry of Machine Building Song Renqiong → Liu Jie 018 Coal Industry Zhang Linzhi 019 Petroleum Industry Yu Qiuli 020 Geology Li Siguang 021 Building Construction Liu Xiufeng 022 Textile Industry Jiang Guangnai 023 Light Industry Li Zhuchen 024 Railways Teng Daiyuan 025 Transport Wang Shoudao 026 Posts & Telecommunications Zhu Xuefan 027 Ministry of Agriculture Liao Luyan 028 State Farms and Land Reclamation Wang Zhen 029 Forestry Liu Wenhui 030 Water Resources and Electric Power Fu Zuoyi 031 Labor Ma Wenrui 032 Culture Mao Dun 033 Education Yang Xiufeng 034 Ministry of Health Li Dequan♀ 035 Commission for Physical Culture and Sports He LongP 036 Ethnic Affairs Commission Ulanhu 037 Foreign Cultural Liaison Commission Zhang Xiruo 038 Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission Liao Chengzhi 039 Agricultural Machinery Chen Zhengren 040 Machinery Industry Zhang Liankui → Sun Zhiyuan 01 Foreign Affairs Chen Yi P 02 National Defense Lin BiaoPSC 03 State Planning Commission Li FuchunP 04 National Economic Commission Bo Yibo 05 Science and Technology Commission Nie Rongzhen 06 Public Security Xie Fuzhi 07 Internal Affairs Zeng Shan 08 Ethnic Affairs Commission Ulanhu 09 Ministry of Agriculture Liao Luyan 010 State Farms and Land Reclamation Wang Zhen 011 Forestry Liu Wenhui 012 Aquatic Products Xu Deheng 013 Metallurgical Industry Lü Dong 014 Chemical Industry Gao Yang 015 First Ministry of Machine Building Duan Junyi 016 Second Ministry of Machine Building Liu Jie 017 Third Ministry of Machine Building Sun Zhiyuan 018 Fourth Ministry of Machine Building Wang Zheng [zh] 019 Fifth Ministry of Machine Building Qiu Chuangcheng 020 Sixth Ministry of Machine Building Fang Qiang [zh] 021 Seventh Ministry of Machine Building Wang Bingzhang 022 Eighth Ministry of Machine Building Chen Zhengren 023 Coal Industry Zhang Linzhi 024 Petroleum and Chemical Industries Yu Qiuli 025 Water Resources and Electric Power Fu Zuoyi 026 Geology Li Siguang 027 Building Construction Li Renjun [zh] → Liu Yumin [zh] 028 Building Materials Industry Lai Jifa 029 Textile Industry Jiang Guangnai 030 Light Industry Li Zhuchen 031 Railways Lü Zhengcao 032 Transport Sun Daguang 033 Posts & Telecommunications Zhu Xuefan 033 Material Management Yuan Baohua 034 Labor Ma Wenrui 035 Finance Li XiannianP 036 Food Sha Qianli 037 Ministry of Commerce Yao Yilin 038 Foreign Trade Ye Jizhuang 039 Culture Lu Dingyi 040 Education He Wei [zh] 041 Higher Education Jiang Nanxiang 042 Ministry of Health Qian Xinzhong 043 Commission for Physical Culture and Sports He Long 044 Foreign Cultural Liaison Committee Zhang Xiruo 045 Foreign Economic Liaison Committee Fang Yi 046 Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission Liao Chengzhi 047 Second Ministry of Light Industry Xu Yunbei 048 National Basic Construction Commission Gu Mu