Appraisals
According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, Ling Tong respected and befriended scholars and was admired by them even though he was a military general. Being receptive, he had a reputation for being accommodating towards men of talent. Even when he was busy with military affairs, he always took time to receive visitors. He viewed righteousness and loyalty as important values and saw wealth as inferior. He has thus been praised by the Jin Dynasty historian Chen Shou to be a guoshi (國士), the most talented and virtuous individual in the kingdom. Once, Sun Quan's subjects recommended a famous talent Sheng Xian to him. Ling Tong was asleep when he heard that Sheng Xian had arrived to meet his lord. He immediately got out of bed to receive Sheng Xian and held Sheng's hand while leading him to meet Sun Quan.
Ling Tong was reputed to have a strong sense of righteousness. During the battle at Nan Commandery, Zhou Yu ordered Gan Ning to attack Yiling. Cao Ren sent an army to attack Gan Ning and had him surrounded. Gan Ning hurriedly requested for reinforcements, but the generals did not have enough men to spare to save him and believed it was not sagacious to send reinforcements because that would dilute the main army. Lü Meng spoke up, saying that they should help Gan Ning. He proposed to Zhou Yu that Ling Tong stay behind to keep Cao Ren in check while the rest of the generals go to reinforce Gan Ning. Lü Meng boldly asserted that he had confidence that Ling Tong could hold on for ten days. Ling Tong then took up his duties with responsibility. He countered Cao Ren's attacks alone, and bought time for the other generals to rescue Gan Ning.
He was also brave in admitting his mistakes and displayed fervent determination in his actions. In his earlier years, Ling Tong struck down a superior officer called Chen Qin, who had earlier insulted him and his late father. The incident caused Chen Qin to die of severe wounds several days later. Ling Tong then fought recklessly in the battle against the bandits after exclaiming that only through death could he cleanse his deep guilt. Thus, his attack turned out to be a huge success, yet he bound himself and surrendered to the discipline officer after the victorious battle to await his punishment. However, Sun Quan pardoned him on account of his achievements and promoted him to a higher military rank.
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