Wang Dingliu, who is a native of Jiankang Prefecture (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), runs an inn on the bank of the Yangtze River with his father.

An expert swimmer, Zhang Shun frees himself underwater and gets to the opposite bank, where he finds the inn of Wang Dingliu.

Remembering what Wu Song did in Mengzhou, Zhang Shun writes with the blood of Li on the wall a supposed confession by An himself that he is the killer.

Wang Dingliu is put in charge of an inn which acts as a lookout for Liangshan after the 108 Stars of Destiny came together in what is called the Grand Assembly.

He participates in the campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces within the Song Empire following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan.

In the battle of Xuanzhou (宣州; present-day Xuancheng, Anhui) in the campaign against Fang La, Wang Dingliu is killed when being hit by a poisoned arrow.