Di Renjie was a high-ranking official during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, serving as Minister of Justice, Governor of Ningzhou, Governor of Yuzhou, and later as Chancellor.
When Di Renjie was young, a member of his household was murdered. Officials came to investigate, and everyone rushed to argue their case, but Renjie remained buried in his books. Someone asked why he ignored the officials. He looked up and said, "I am conversing with the sages in these yellow scrolls—when do I have time to answer vulgar clerks?"
From a young age, Di Renjie displayed extraordinary talent and character, later impressing Yan Liben, who was astonished by his abilities and recommended him as a military judge in Bingzhou.
When Di Renjie received his official appointment, he set out immediately. Soon he reached the Taihang Mountains and, climbing up, gazed southward to see a solitary white cloud drifting. He thought, "Beneath that cloud lies my hometown!" His parents lived in Heyang, just south of the Taihang range. Realizing that this mountain would now cut off the road to his family, he turned to his attendants and said with deep melancholy, "My parents live beneath that white cloud." The mountain wind whipped his robes as he stood there for a long time, watching the cloud drift south until it vanished, and only then did he resume his journey.
Di Renjie was also very concerned about others' mothers. Zheng Chongzhi, a military officer in the same prefecture, had an elderly and ailing mother, and he was about to be sent on a mission to a very distant place. Renjie said to him, "How can you travel thousands of miles away, leaving your mother to worry alone?" So Renjie volunteered to go on the distant mission in Zheng Chongzhi's place.
People said, "Lord Di is so virtuous and benevolent that south of the Big Dipper, you won't find a second person like him."
Due to his exceptional talent and virtue, Di Renjie became a renowned prime minister under Empress Wu Zetian.
The idiom "Gazing at the Clouds" is used to describe a deep longing for one's parents.
Source: *New Book of Tang*, "Biography of Di Renjie"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "望云之情" came to describe a deep longing for one's parents.