Ding Mi 丁謐

Cao Shuang's biography records that He Yan, Deng Yang and Li Sheng of Nanyang, Ding Mi of Pei State and Bi Gui of Dongping all had reputations and sought advancement by following the fashions of the time, but that Emperor Ming suppressed and dismissed them all as showy and superficial. When Cao Shuang took power he employed them again and made them his confidants. Chen Shou's main text does not record Ding Mi's courtesy name or family. Records, Wei 9 §73

When Emperor Ming fell ill, he made Cao Shuang General-in-Chief and had him, together with the Grand Commandant Sima Yi, receive the testamentary edict to assist the young ruler. After Emperor Ming died and the King of Qi came to the throne, Cao Shuang was given the additional title of Palace Attendant and re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Wu'an. At this time Ding Mi devised a plan by which Cao Shuang petitioned the Son of Heaven to issue an edict moving Sima Yi to Grand Tutor. Outwardly this honored Sima Yi with a prestigious title, but inwardly it was meant to make the Masters of Writing submit their reports to Cao Shuang first, so that he could control their weight as he pleased. Records, Wei 9 §71–72

At first Cao Shuang, regarding Sima Yi as high in both age and virtue, always served him as a father and did not dare act on his own. When He Yan and the others were employed, they together exalted Cao Shuang and persuaded him that since his authority was so weighty it must not be entrusted to others. Thereupon He Yan, Deng Yang and Ding Mi became Masters of Writing, with He Yan in charge of selecting officials, Bi Gui became Colonel-Director of Retainers and Li Sheng Intendant of Henan. Few matters passed through Sima Yi any more, and in the end Sima Yi pleaded illness to avoid Cao Shuang. Records, Wei 9 §76

At this time Cao Shuang monopolized the government, and Ding Mi, Deng Yang and others lightly altered the laws and institutions. When an eclipse of the sun occurred and an edict asked the officials about the merits and failings of the government, Jiang Ji submitted a memorial. He said that only a great talent renowned in his age could spread out the framework of a state's laws and institutions and hand them down to later generations, that they were not something for officials of middling or lower rank to alter, and that in the end such changes would bring no benefit to government and would serve only to harm the people. Records, Wei 14 §138–139

In the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249), when the Son of Heaven went to pay homage at the Gaoping Tomb, Cao Shuang and his brothers all accompanied him. Sima Yi first seized the arsenal, stationed himself at the floating bridge over the Luo River, and submitted a memorial impeaching Cao Shuang. At the urging of Xu Yun and Chen Tai, Cao Shuang admitted his guilt and asked for death, and Cao Shuang and his brothers were removed from office and returned to their residences as marquises. Records, Wei 4 §28Records, Wei 9 §80 · 85

Earlier, Zhang Dang, a eunuch of the Yellow Gate, had privately given Cao Shuang palace ladies he had selected; suspecting something treacherous in this, the authorities arrested Zhang Dang and tried him. Zhang Dang testified that Cao Shuang had secretly plotted rebellion with He Yan and the others, had even trained troops in advance, and intended to strike in the 3rd month. The ministers and court officials judged that Cao Shuang, together with He Yan, Deng Yang, Zhang Dang and others, had coveted the sacred vessel of the throne, which was great treason and depravity. Thereupon Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, He Yan, Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Bi Gui, Li Sheng, Huan Fan, Zhang Dang and others were seized, all executed, and their three sets of kin exterminated. Records, Wei 9 §87–88

Of this affair, the Annals of the Three Young Emperors record that the Masters of Writing Ding Mi, Deng Yang and He Yan, the Colonel-Director of Retainers Bi Gui, the Inspector of Jing Province Li Sheng and the Minister of Agriculture Huan Fan had all shared in Cao Shuang's treacherous plots, and so their three sets of kin were exterminated. In his assessment in Records of Wei 9, Chen Shou said that Cao Shuang, thin in virtue but high in rank, sank into fullness and overflow, but he said nothing about Ding Mi in particular. Records, Wei 4 §28Records, Wei 9 §132