Cui Guicong (崔龜從),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Xuangao (玄告), was an official of the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, who served as a

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong.

Background and early career

It is not known when Cui Guicong was born. He was from the "Greater Branch" of the prominent Cui clan of Qinghe (清河, in modern

Xingtai Xingtai ( zh, s= , t=邢臺, p=Xíngtái , w=Hsing2-tʻai2), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 coun ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

), and his male-line ancestors originally claimed ancestry from the ruling house of the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

state Qi. Cui Guicong's traceable ancestry included officials of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(including

Cui Yan Cui Yan (165–216), courtesy name Jigui, was a Chinese politician serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In his early life, he served briefly in the local district office before leaving home to study und ...

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasti ...

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties during the ...

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

, and the Tang dynasties, although neither Cui Guicong's grandfather Cui Cheng (崔誠) nor his father Cui Huang (崔黃) were listed with any offices. Cui Guicong passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

s in the ''Jinshi'' class in 817, during the reign of

Emperor Xianzong Emperor Xianzong of Tang (4 March to 1 April 778''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 14. – 14 February 820; r. 805 – 820), personal name Li Chun, né Li Chun (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Shunzong, ...

, and he subsequently passed two additional special imperial examinations in the classes of those who were considered good and capable of strategies, and those who made good rulings. He thereafter served as ''You Shiyi'' (右拾遺), a low-level advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng''). In 828, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong's grandson Emperor Wenzong, he was made ''Taichang Boshi'' (太常博士), a scholar at the ministry of worship (太常寺, ''Taichang Si'').''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 176. While serving as ''Taichang Boshi'', Cui was considered an expert in proper etiquette in imperial ceremonies. As Emperor Wenzong had succeeded his older brother Emperor Jingzong after Emperor Jingzong's death, his mourning text for Emperor Jingzong originally referred to himself as, "your filially pious younger brother." Cui pointed out that because Emperor Wenzong was of the same generation as Emperor Jingzong, "filially pious" was inappropriate, and suggested that, instead, he referred to himself by name to show respect instead. Also at Cui's suggestion, the sacrifices made to the gods of nine regions of heaven were downgraded to below those offered to the gods of the five planets ( Mercury,

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, and

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

), as he pointed out that traditionally, the gods of the nine regions were considered lower in status to the gods of the five planets. Further, it was at his suggestions that the custom that the emperor wait several days before mourning important officials be abolished—pointing out that Emperor Wenzong's distinguished ancestor Emperor Taizong had insisted on mourning those officials immediately. Cui was later made ''Kaogong Langzhong'' (考功郎中), a supervisory official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, ''Libu''), as well as an editor of the imperial histories. In 835, he was made ''Sixun Langzhong'' (司勛郎中), still a supervisory official at the ministry of civil service affairs and was also put in charge of drafting imperial edicts. Later in the year, he was made ''Zhongshu Sheren'' (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau. Early in Emperor Wenzong's ''Kaicheng'' era (836–840), Cui was sent out of the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

to serve as the prefect of Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern

Weinan Weinan ( zh, s=渭南 , p=Wèinán) is a prefecture-level city in east-Guanzhong, central Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provinc ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

). In 838, he was recalled to Chang'an to serve as the deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang'') and put in charge of tax collection. In 839, he was briefly made acting minister of civil service affairs (吏部尚書, ''Hubu Shangshu''), to select officials for that year.

Chancellorship and aftermaths

In 850, by which time Emperor Wenzong's uncle Emperor Xuānzong was emperor, Cui Guicong, who was then the minister of census (戶部尚書, ''Hubu Shangshu'') and the director of finances, was made a

''de facto'' with the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事).''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vol. 249. In 851, he submitted to Emperor Xuānzong a 30-volume calendar for Tang. In 852, he was removed from his chancellor position and made the military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'') of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

). He served as military governor at other circuits before his death, although his terms of service and time of death were not given in his biographies.''New Book of Tang'', vol. 160.

Notes and references

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'', vol. 176. * ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol. 160. * ''

'', vol. 249. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cui Guicong Chancellors under Emperor Xuānzong of Tang Tang dynasty jiedushi of Xuanwu Circuit Tang dynasty historians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Cui clan of Qinghe