Background

Di Renjie was born in Yangqu County, Bing Province in 630, during the reign of Emperor Taizong. His family, from Taiyuan, was one that had produced many officials. 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).

Di Renjie was known for being studious in his youth, and after passing the imperial examination served as a secretary at the prefectural government of Bian Prefecture (汴州, roughly modern Kaifeng, Henan). 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. After seeing Di, he was impressed by him, and commented, "Confucius had said, 'You can tell a man's kindness by his failure.' You are a pearl from the coast and a lost treasure of the southeast." He recommended Di to become a bailiff for the commandant at Bing Prefecture (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).

While at Bing Prefecture, he was said to be caring of others. On one occasion, his colleague Zheng Chongzhi (鄭崇質) was ordered to go on an official trip to a place far away. Di, noting that Zheng's mother was old and ill, went to the secretary general Lin Renji (藺仁基) and offered to go in Zheng's stead. It was said that Lin was so touched by the concern that Di showed Zheng as a colleague that he relayed the episode to the military advisor to the prefect, Li Xiaolian (李孝廉), with whom Lin had a running dispute, and offered peaceful relations to Li.

By 676, during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong, Di was serving as the secretary general at the supreme court (大理丞), and it was said that he was an efficient and fair judge, judging some 17,000 cases within a year without anyone complaining about the results. In 676, there was an event in which the general Quan Shancai (權善才) and the military officer Fan Huaiyi (范懷義) accidentally cut cypresses on Emperor Taizong's tomb—an offense punishable by removal from office, but Emperor Gaozong ordered that the two be executed. Di pointed out that, by law, the two should not be executed. This initially offended Emperor Gaozong, who ordered Di to leave his presence. Di continued to object, and eventually, Emperor Gaozong relented and exiled them. Several days later, he appointed Di to the imperial censorate.

Around 679, the minister of agriculture Wei Hongji (韋弘機) built three magnificent palaces around the eastern capital Luoyang—Suyu Palace (宿羽宮), Gaoshan Palace (高山宮), and Shangyang Palace (上陽宮). Di submitted an accusation against Wei, arguing that he was leading Emperor Gaozong into being wasteful, and Wei was removed from his office. Meanwhile, around the same time, the official Wang Benli was said to be favored by Emperor Gaozong and, on account of that favor, was committing many illegal deeds and intimidating other officials. Di accused Wang of crimes; initially, Emperor Gaozong was set to pardon him. At Di's insistence—pointing out that the empire did not lack people with Wang's talent—Emperor Gaozong relented and allowed Wang to be punished.

During Emperor Ruizongs first reign

As of 686, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's son Emperor Ruizong, Di Renjie was serving as the prefect of Ning Prefecture (寧州, roughly modern Qingyang, Gansu). At that time, the censor Guo Han (郭翰) was commissioned to tour the prefectures in the area, and wherever he went, he found faults with the prefects and corrected them, but when he arrived at Ning Prefecture, it was said that the people had no complaints about Di and praised him greatly. Guo recommended Di to Emperor Ruizong's mother and regent Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), and Di was recalled to Luoyang to serve as deputy minister of public works (冬官侍郎, Dongguan Shilang).

In 688, Di was touring the Jiangnan Circuit (江南道, the region south of the Yangtze River). He believed that the region had too many temples dedicated to unusual deities, and at his request, some 1,700 temples were destroyed; only four kinds of temples were allowed to remain—those dedicated to Yu the Great, Wu Taibo (吳太伯, the legendary founder of the Spring and Autumn period kingdom Wu), Wu Jizha (吳季札, a well-regarded Wu prince and son of King Shoumeng of Wu), and Wu Zixu.

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 that time, some 600 to 700 households were accused of being complicit in Li Zhen's rebellion and were forced to serve as servants. At Di's request, they were relieved from those obligations, but were exiled to Feng Prefecture (豐州, roughly modern Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia).

Meanwhile, the general that Empress Dowager Wu sent to suppress Li Zhen's rebellion, the chancellor Zhang Guangfu, was still in Yu Prefecture, and his officers and soldiers were demanding various supplies from the Yu prefectural government, requests that Di mostly turned down. This led to an argument with Zhang, and Zhang accused him of showing contempt; in turn, Di angrily stated that Zhang was killing alleged coconspirators of Li Zhen excessively and that if he had the authority to do so, he would have beheaded Zhang even if it meant his own death. Zhang was greatly offended and, upon return to Luoyang, accused Di of contempt, and Empress Dowager Wu demoted Di to be the prefect of Fu Prefecture (復州, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi). (This was considered a demotion as, while Di remained a prefect, Fu Prefecture was smaller and less important than Yu Prefecture.)

During Wu Zetians reign

In 690, Empress Dowager Wu took the throne from Emperor Ruizong, establishing the Zhou Dynasty as its "emperor" and interrupting the Tang Dynasty. As of 691, Di was serving as the military advisor to the prefect of the capital prefecture 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.

She commented to him, "You did a good job in Ru'nan i.e., Yu Prefecture). Do you want to know who spoke against you?" (Presumably, she was referring to Zhang Guangfu who, ironically, was executed by her in 689 on accusation that he had considered rebelling against her.) Di responded:

Wu Zetian was impressed by the response and praised him. Later that year, when the imperial university's student Wang Xunzhi (王循之) submitted a petition to Wu Zetian asking her to permit him to go on vacation, she was poised to issue an edict to approve of the request, when Di opposed the edict—not on the merits, but on the basis that university students' vacations were such minor events that she should not bother herself with them, but rather should order that such petitions be directed to the university secretaries. She agreed.

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. Lai tried to induce them to confess by citing an imperial edict that stated that those who confessed would be spared their lives, and Di confessed and was not tortured—but when Lai's subordinate Wang Deshou (王德壽) tried to induce him to implicate another chancellor, Yang Zhirou, refused. Di then wrote a petition on his blanket and hid it inside cotton clothes, and then had his family members take the clothes home to be changed into summer clothes. Wu Zetian thereafter became suspicious and inquired with Lai, who responded by forging, in the names of Di and the other officials, submissions thanking Wu Zetian for preparing to execute them.

However, the young son of another chancellor who had been executed, Le Sihui, who was seized to be a servant at the ministry of agriculture, made a petition to Wu Zetian and told her that Lai was so skillful at manufacturing charges that even the most honest and faithful individuals would be forced into confessions by Lai. 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).

In 696, during the middle of an attack by the Khitan khan Sun Wanrong against Zhou prefectures north of the Yellow River, Wu Zetian promoted Di to be the prefect of Wei Prefecture (魏州, roughly modern Handan, Hebei). It was said that Di's predecessor Dugu Sizhuang (獨孤思莊), in fear of a Khitan attack, had ordered the people of the prefecture to all move within the prefectural capital's walls, drawing much fear and resentment from the people. When Di arrived, he, judging the Khitan forces to be still far away, ordered that the people be allowed to return to their homes and farms, gaining much gratitude from the people. After Sun's forces collapsed in 697 after a surprise attack by the Eastern Tujue khan Ashina Mochuo against his home base, Wu Zetian had Di, the chancellor Lou Shide, and Wu Yizong (武懿宗) the Prince of Henan (a grandson of her uncle Wu Shiyi (武士逸)) to tour the region north of the Yellow River to try to pacify the people.

Later in 697, Di was serving as the commandant at You Prefecture (幽州, roughly modern Beijing), when, at Lou's recommendation, Wu Zetian recalled him to Luoyang to serve as Luantai Shilang (鸞臺侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (鸞臺, Luantai), and again gave him the chancellor designation of Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi. He submitted a petition advocating that descendants of Western Tujue and Goguryeo rulers be found and be given their ancient lands, to help defend against Eastern Tujue and Tufan attacks—a petition that was not accepted but was said to be well regarded by other officials.

At that time, Wu Zetian's son Li Dan (the former Emperor Ruizong) was crown prince, but Wu Zetian's nephews Wu Chengsi the Prince of Wei and Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang both had designs on the position, and repeatedly had their associates reason with Wu Zetian that there had never been an emperor who made someone of a different family name his heir. 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. On one occasion, Wu Zetian asked him, "Last night I dreamed of a large parrot that had two broken wings. What do you think it means?" Di responded:

It was said that thereafter, Wu Zetian stopped considering Wu Chengsi or Wu Sansi as heir. Meanwhile, another close advisor of Wu Zetian's, Ji Xu, also persuaded Wu Zetian's lovers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong the merits of the proposal—pointing out that as things stood, after Wu Zetian's death, they would be hated and would suffer terrible fates. Wu Zetian finally agreed, and in spring 698 recalled Li Zhe to the capital. Li Dan subsequently offered to yield the crown prince position to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian agreed and created Li Zhe crown prince, changing his name to Li Xian and then Wu Xian. She soon made Di Nayan (納言), the head of the examination bureau and a post considered one for a chancellor.

Also in 698, Ashina Mochuo turned against Zhou and attacked Zhou's northern prefectures. Wu Zetian made Li Xian the nominal commanding general of the army against Eastern Tujue, but made Di the deputy commanding general and actually in charge of the army. Before Di's army could arrive, however, Ashina Mochuo completed his pillaging of the northern prefectures and withdrew; Di's army never engaged him. Wu Zetian subsequently commissioned Di to tour the prefectures to pacify the people, and he was said to have done so well, helping refugees to return to their home, transporting food supplies to places needing them, repairing the roads, and helping the poor. 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. Meanwhile, though, he was said to have looked down on Lou, not realizing that Lou had been the one that had recommended that he be made chancellor, until Wu Zetian revealed to him that fact, causing him to be embarrassed.

In 700, 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. By this point, she was said to have respected him so greatly that she often just referred to him as Guolao (國老, "the State Elder") without referring to him by name. It was said that, on account of his old age, he often offered to retire, and she repeatedly declined. Further, she stopped him from kneeling and bowing to her, stating, "When I see you kneeling, I feel the pain." She also ordered that he not be required to rotate with other chancellors for night duty, warning the other chancellors not to bother Di unless there was something important. Di died in fall 700, and it was said that she wept bitterly, stating, "The Southern Palace 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.

Di Renjie's tomb is located at the east end of the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, near the Qiyun Pagoda, on the tombstone engraved the inscription "The tomb of Lord Di Renjie, famous chancellor of the Great Tang dynasty".

In fiction

Di Renjie appears as the main character in a number of gong'an crime novels and films. The first of these stories, Di Gong An or Dee Goong An (Chinese: 狄公案), is an 18th-century Chinese detective novel written by the pseudonymous author Butizhuanren (不题撰人), loosely based on Di Renjie.

Robert van Gulik translated the novel in the 1940s as Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. He later wrote a series of detective novels featuring Judge Dee as the main protagonist. These in turn were the basis of a 1969 TV series in the UK starring Michael Goodliffe.

Khigh Dhiegh appeared as the Judge Dee version of the character in the 1974 ABC TV movie Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders, based on Robert Van Gulik's novel The Haunted Monastery. It was directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan and the teleplay was written by Nicholas Meyer.

Frédéric Lenormand published 19 new novels using Judge Dee as detective from 2004 to present (éditions Fayard, Paris).

In 2004, CCTV-8 aired a television series based on detective stories related to Di Renjie, under the title Amazing Detective Di Renjie (神探狄仁杰), starring Liang Guanhua as the titular protagonist. It was followed by three sequels: Amazing Detective Di Renjie 2 (2006), Amazing Detective Di Renjie 3 (2008), and Mad Detective Di Renjie (2010). Some characters in the television series are fictionalised versions of historical figures, including Wu Zetian and Di Renjie himself. The plot of each season is further divided into two or three parts, each covering one case. 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. Mark Chao took over the role in Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013) and Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018), both also directed by Tsui Hark. The two films are set as a prequel to the events in The Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

Bosco Wong portrayed a young Di Renjie in the 2014 Chinese television series Young Sherlock.

In 2012, Bigben Interactive released a video game based on Di Renjie named Judge Dee: The City God Case. Initially released on PC, the casual hidden-object game later made it on to other platforms including Android and iOS.

Nupixo Games released a new point-and-click adventure game featuring an original story which involves Empress Wu Zetian. Titled Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders, it was released in May 2019 for PC/Mac.

生平

為唐代并州（今山西太原）狄村人，出生于一個官宦之家。高祖狄湛，隨宇文泰西走咸陽；祖父狄孝緒任貞觀時期的尚書左丞；父親狄知遜，任夔州長史。

唐高宗顯慶四年（659年）中明經科考試及第，除汴州判佐。龍朔元年(661年)工部尚書閻立本為河南道黜陟使，狄仁傑被吏誣告，閻立本受理訊問，不僅弄清了事情的真相，且發現狄仁傑是一個德才兼備的難得人物，謂之「河曲之明珠，東南之遺寶」，推薦狄仁傑作了并州都督府法曹。在此任內，狄仁傑通曉吏治、兵刑等封建典章和法律制度，這對他一生的政治活動都有重大影響。

上元二年（675年）狄仁傑升任大理寺丞，於儀鳳元年（676年）一年內判決了大量積壓案件，涉及一萬七千人，無冤訴者，一時名聲大振。九月，左衛大將軍權善才和監門衛中郎將范懷義誤砍昭陵柏樹而被下令誅殺，狄公上諫曰「臣聞逆龍鱗，忤人主，自古以為難，臣愚以為不然。居桀、紂時則難，堯、舜時則易。臣今幸逢堯、舜，不懼比幹之誅。昔漢文時有盜高廟玉環，張釋之廷諍，罪止棄市。魏文將徙其人，辛毗引裾而諫，亦見納用。且明主可以理奪，忠臣不可以威懼。今陛下不納臣言，瞑目之後，羞見釋之、辛毗于地下。陛下作法，懸之象魏，徒流死罪，俱有等差。豈有犯非極刑，即令賜死？法既無常，則萬姓何所措其手足？陛下必欲變法，請從今日為始。古人云：『假使盜長陵一抔土』，陛下何以加之？今陛下以昭陵一株柏殺一將軍，千載之後，謂陛下為何主？此臣所以不敢奉制殺善才，陷陛下于不道。」之言使得兩位將軍免遭斬殺，數日後升任侍御史。任職期間恪守職責，彈劾巧媚逢迎恃寵怙權之徒。

調露元年（679年）司農卿韋弘機造宿羽、高山、上陽等宮，寬敞壯麗。狄仁傑上奏彈劾韋弘機引導皇帝追求奢泰，韋弘機因此被免職。左司郎中王本立恃恩用事，朝廷畏之。狄仁傑毫不留情的彈劾其為非作歹的罪行，請求交付法司審理。唐高宗包庇王本立，狄公曰：「國家雖乏英才，豈少本立輩！陛下何惜罪人以虧王法。必欲曲赦本立，請棄臣于無人之境，為忠貞將來之戒！」王本立遂被定罪，朝廷肅然。調露二年（680年）遷度支郎中，唐高宗巡幸汾陽宮，以其為知頓使布置中途食宿之所。并州長史李衝玄徵發數萬人開御道，狄公曰：「天子之行，千乘萬騎，風伯清塵，雨師灑道，何妒女之害耶？」俱令作罷，帝聞曰「真大丈夫矣！」

永淳元年（683年），狄仁傑出任寧州（今甘肅寧縣、正寧一帶）刺史。當時寧州為各民族雜居之地，狄仁傑注意妥善處理與外族的關係，深得人心，百姓為立生祠。垂拱二年（686年），經監察御史郭翰推薦，升任冬官侍郎。四年（688年）二月，授安撫使與司屬卿王及善和司府卿歐陽通，分赴山東河南賑濟災民。六月功成升江南道巡撫大使，任內移風易俗。針對吳楚多淫祠弊俗，奏請焚毀祠廟1700餘所，唯留夏禹、吳太伯、季札、伍員四祠。不久返洛陽升文昌右丞九月轉任豫州刺史。時受越王李貞株連者六、七百人在監，籍沒者多達5000人。狄公知其無辜遂上奏：「此輩咸非本心，伏望哀其詿誤。」天后聞奏特赦改殺為流穩定豫州，時諸軍節度張光輔恃功大肆勒索，被狄公怒斥殺戮降卒以邀戰功，曰「亂河南者，一越王貞耳。今一貞死而萬貞生。明公董戎三十萬，平一亂臣，不戢兵鋒，縱兵暴橫，無罪之人，肝腦塗地。但恐冤聲騰沸，上徹于天。如得上方斬馬劍加于君頸，雖死如歸。」遂上奏告出言不遜貶為複州刺史，五年（689年）七月內史張光輔為洛陽令張嗣明、罪臣徐敬真誣告下獄，複職入為洛州司馬。

天授二年（691年）九月，被任命為地官（戶部）侍郎、同鳳閣（中書省）鸞台（門下省）平章事（宰相），開始了短暫的第一次宰相生涯。

長壽元年（693年）正月，武承嗣勾結來俊臣等酷吏誣陷狄仁傑等謀反，將他們逮捕下獄，狄仁傑等深知酷吏嚴刑拷打成性，寧為陛下賜死，也不願死於酷吏手中，為保全性命，權宜之計立刻招罪曰：「反是實！」仁傑拆下被褥帛書冤，置棉衣中，請獄吏轉告家人去其棉，得其冤狀。其子狄光遠持書上告朝廷，來俊臣接獲密報，遂偽造狄仁傑筆跡寫下《謝死表》上呈女皇。女皇召狄仁傑等大臣面詢：「承反何也？」狄仁傑答曰：「向若不承反，已死於鞭笞也。」又問：「何為做謝死表？」答曰：「臣無此表。」武則天弄清是偽造的，於是釋放此案七人，但俱貶為地方官，狄公貶為彭澤縣令。任內勤政惠民，赴任當年彭澤乾旱無雨，營佃失時，百姓無糧可食，狄公上奏疏請求賑濟免除租賦，上聞從之。並勸課農桑鼓勵生產，百姓立生祠紀念其功德。

萬歲通天元年（696年）五月，契丹首領李盡忠和孫萬榮率兵反抗武周，攻陷營州，殺都督趙文翽。三月，清邊道行軍總管王孝傑所部在東硤石谷（今河北唐山附近）遭遇契丹軍，全軍覆沒，王孝傑跳崖而死。十月，契丹攻陷冀州（今河北冀州市），為了穩定局勢，武則天起用狄仁傑為與冀州相鄰的魏州（今河北大名縣一帶）刺史。狄仁傑到職後，改變了前任刺史盡趨百姓入城，繕修守具的作法，讓百姓返田耕作。契丹人聽聞後，退兵而去。不久，狄仁傑改任幽州都督，獲賜紫袍、龜帶。孫萬榮兵敗被殺，部將李楷固等投降了武周。朝廷大臣因為李楷固等人曾經屢勝周軍，想把他們處死。狄仁傑介入，說服了武則天寬恕並重用了李楷固等人，李楷固平定了繼續反周的契丹人。

神功元年（697年）六月，狄仁傑調任河北安撫使，與婁師德武懿宗分赴河北各地安撫戰後災民，招納流亡人士，恢復生產。不久，狄仁傑升任幽州都督。

閏十月，狄仁傑召回朝中，官拜鸞台（門下省）侍郎、同鳳閣鸞台平章事，加銀青光祿大夫，兼納言，恢復了宰相職務，成為輔佐女皇治理國家大政的左右手賜予紫袍、龜帶，紫袍上書寫「敷政木，守清勤，升顯位，勵相臣」十二金字。上奏撤軍西域，封西突厥貴族斛瑟羅為可汗率眾鎮守安西。上不納。

聖曆元年（698年）二月，太子遲遲未立，武則天有意立姪梁王武三思為太子，狄仁傑以政治人物的深謀遠慮勸說武則天順應民心，還政于廬陵王李顯，勿讓權予姪。曰：「立子，則千秋萬歲後配食太廟，承繼無窮；立侄，則未聞侄為天子而附姑于廟者也。」武則天曰：「此朕家事，卿勿預知。」狄仁傑答曰：「王者以四海為家。四海之內，孰非臣妾？何者不為陛下家事！君為元首，臣為股肱，義同一體。況臣位備宰相，豈得不預知乎？」武則天採納了狄仁傑的意見，為表示心意，三月親自迎接廬陵王李顯回宮，立為皇嗣，賜武姓，使李唐得以維繫。八月兼納言推薦其子光嗣擔任尚書郎，而狄光嗣很稱職，受到武則天的讚揚，說他堪比春秋時期的祁奚祁黃羊。秋九月突厥南下入侵河北，上命太子河北道元帥、狄公副元帥征討。命狄仁傑知元帥事，親自給狄仁傑送行。不久大敗突厥，突厥默啜可汗盡殺所掠趙、定等州男女萬餘人退還漠北追之不及而還。十月任河北道安撫大使，奏請赦免依附突厥逃竄山澤之民；上聞從之，採取減輕賦稅徭役賑濟，饑民恢復生產，嚴禁騷擾百姓措施，河北穩定。

二年（699年）二月隨武則天巡幸嵩山謁王子晉廟，八月上表廢去安東都護府恢復高句麗政權以不切實際未行。久視元年（700年）正月回朝任內史（中書令），四月武則天辛三陽宮避暑，狄公隨侍有胡僧邀請武則天觀看安葬舍利，狄公跪馬前攔奏道：「佛者，夷狄之神，不足以屈天下之主。彼胡僧詭橘，直欲邀致萬乘所宜臨也。」遂中道而還。五月隨游石淙山作奉和聖制夏日游石淙山詩，上喜賜宅一所。七月經狄公力救免死之契丹將領李楷固駱務整，率軍掃平契丹獻俘上欲受封狄公拒辭。

閏七月，上欲造浮屠大像預計費用多達數百萬，宮不能足詔令天下僧尼日施錢以助。狄公上諫曰：「如來設教，以慈悲為主。豈欲勞人，以在虛飾？」「比來水旱不節，當今邊境未寧。若費官財，又盡人力，一隅有難，將何以救之？」上從之免其役。九月辛丑日（11月11日），狄公病故于洛陽私宅，上聞震悼輟朝三日曰：「天何故奪吾國老如此早？！至此，朝堂空也！」贈文昌右相（尚書右僕射），謚文惠。唐中宗繼位追贈司空，唐睿宗又追封之為梁國公。（狄仁傑去世時間有爭議，見下）

卒年爭議

在河南省文物研究所編輯的《千唐志齋藏志》一書中，收有一方「河北道安撫大使狄仁傑撰書」的《大周故相州刺史袁府君（公瑜）墓誌銘》（文物出版社1984年1月版481頁），墓主夫婦的合葬期卻為「久視元年十月廿八日」，似當時狄仁傑仍在世，與史書記載已與當年九月去世矛盾。《兩唐書·張柬之傳》《大唐新語》又記載狄仁傑長安年間推薦張柬之，《通典》《唐會要》更將此事精確到長安二年（702年）。據此，有人考証並推算狄仁傑上疏罷建佛像事在長安四年（704年），同年九月逝世。

狄仁傑墓

狄仁傑墓在洛陽白馬寺內之東側，墓碑上有李進學（號印碩居士）書「大唐名相狄公仁傑之墓」。

子孫

• 子狄光嗣，戶部郎中

　• 狄博通

　　• 狄玄范

• 子狄光遠，州司馬

　• 狄宗，唐杭州錢塘令

　　• 狄林，唐某縣尉

• 子狄光昭，字子亮，職方員外郎，後改名狄景暉

文藝作品中的狄仁傑

小說

• 中國清代小說《狄公案》

• 荷蘭現代小說 高羅佩《大唐狄公案》

• 中國現代小說 吳蔚《璇璣圖》

• 香港新派武俠小說梁羽生《女帝奇英傳》

• 香港現代小說 黃易盛唐三部曲第一部《日月當空》及第二部《龍戰在野》

• 中國起點中文網網絡小說 月關《醉枕江山》

• 中國現代小說 唐隱（安娜芳芳）《狄仁傑探案》（包括：并州迷霧、暗夜迷情、魅影危機、碧血黃沙、再見幽蘭）

藝術形象

電視劇

狄仁傑系列電影

電影

動漫

遊戲