Wang Yucheng 王禹偁(954-1001) and Ding Wei 丁謂(966-1037) were two famous characters of different style in the Northern Song dynasty. Wang was primarily a literary writer, endeavouring in the promotion of ancient culture movement, and was acclaimed for his upright and noble personality. On the other hand, Ding was primarily a politician, preoccupying himself with various state sponsored superstitious activities, was crafty and insidious and had a notorious reputation. These two historical figures had widely different character, and yet they had very close social, political and literary associations. This essay attemps to examine the relationship between them.