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Di Qing
Northern Song general who rose from the ranks with a tattooed face, fought the Western Xia and crushed Nong Zhigao after crossing the Kunlun Pass by night
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Hanchen · Shi Wuxiang
Di Qing, courtesy name Hanchen, came from Xihe in Fenzhou and joined the cavalry as a youth, his face tattooed as Song soldiers' were. In the war with the Western Xia he fought around Yanzhou, charging with his hair loose and a bronze mask on his face, and in four years fought twenty-five engagements and was hit by arrows eight times. Fan Zhongyan gave him the *Zuo Commentary* (*Zuozhuan*), warning that a general ignorant of history had only a common man's courage, and he became a reader of military history. After Nong Zhigao rose in 1052 and besieged Guangzhou, Di Qing volunteered to command, crossed the Kunlun Pass on the night of the Lantern Festival early the next year and routed Nong's forces at Guirenpu. Made military affairs commissioner, he declined Emperor Renzong's suggestion to remove his tattoo, saying it would encourage the rank and file. Distrusted by civil officials, he was sent out to Chenzhou in 1056 and died there the following year, receiving the posthumous name Wuxiang.
Life and times
Dates 1008 CE–1057 CE