They are one of the Wu Hu (Five Barbarians) that overrun northern China during the Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms period.
The Chinese character for Dǐ is different from that for Dí, which refers to the Northern Di, an unrelated ethnic group living in northern China during the earlier Zhou Dynasty.The Di live in areas of the present-day provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi.
During the 4th and early 5th centuries, they establish Former Qin and Later Liang states of this era's Sixteen Kingdoms.
They are traditional horse animal husbandry nomads, semi-nomadic shepherds, and goatherds living on the Tibet/Sichuan frontier.
The Di are eventually assimilated into other populations.
