Cui Xuanwei (; 638–706), né Cui Ye (崔曄),
posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
Prince Wenxian of Boling (博陵文獻王), was an official of China's
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 ...
and
Wu Zhou dynasty, serving 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 reigns of
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...
and her son
Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup () that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705. He was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew
Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi (died August 7, 707), known posthumously as Prince Xuan of Liang (), was a Chinese prince and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. Wu Sansi served as a chancellor and imperial prince during the reign of his aunt, Empress Wu Zetia ...
and died in exile.
Background
Cui Chu was born late in the reign of
Emperor Taizong. He was from "the elder house of Boling" of the prominent
Cui clan of Boling The Cui clan of Boling (博陵崔氏) was a notable Chinese clan of noble descent which was politically active from the Han dynasty to the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. They shared the same ancestry as the Cui clan of Qinghe. ...
. His father Cui Xingjin (崔行謹) served as the magistrate of Husu County (胡蘇, in modern
Dezhou
Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei ...
,
Shandong
Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
), and his uncle Cui Xinggong (崔行功) was the head of the
Palace Library
The Palace Library (; in Vietnam: 秘書所, ''Bí thư sở'') was a central government agency in Imperial and monarchical China, Korea, and Vietnam generally in charge of maintaining and archiving the collection of the monarch's documents.
C ...
. During the ''Longshuo'' era of Emperor Taizong's son
Emperor Gaozong, he passed the
imperial examinations
The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by merit rather than by birth started early i ...
and became a low-level official at the ministry of treasury (庫部, ''Kubu''). His mother Lady Lu often encouraged him to be an honest and clean official. He heeded his mother's teachings and became known for his honesty and carefulness. At some point, because the character of his name Ye (曄) apparently had a similar appearance to the name of one of the ancestors of Emperor Gaozong's wife
Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), he changed his name to Xuanwei. He eventually served as a ''Fengge Sheren'' (鳳閣舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, ''Fengge'').
During Wu Zetian's reign
In 701, by which time Empress Wu had taken the throne herself as "emperor" of a new Zhou dynasty, interrupting
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 ...
, Cui Xuanwei was made the deputy minister of civil service affairs (天官侍郎, ''Tianguan Shilang''), and he was said to be upright and not susceptible to improper influence by powerful people. Later that year, he was made ''Wenchang Zuo Cheng'' (文昌左丞), one of the secretaries general of the executive bureau (文昌臺, ''Wenchang Tai''). A month later, Wu Zetian summoned him and told him, "Since your office was changed, I heard that the officials often feasted because they could now again be corrupt. I will put you back in your old position." She thus made him deputy minister of civil service again and gave him an award of silk.
In 704, when Cui was still serving as deputy minister of civil service affairs, he was given the designation ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him 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 ...
''de facto''. By late that year, when Wu Zetian was ill and was often attended only by her lovers
Zhang Yizhi and
Zhang Changzong, Cui made the suggestion to her that she should have her sons
Li Xian the
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
''Crown prince ...
and
Li Dan the Prince of Xiang attend to her—not members of other clans (i.e., not the Zhang brothers). Wu Zetian, while thanking him for his input, paid no heed. Cui later supported the imperial censor
Song Jing
Song Jing (宋璟) (663 – November 21, 737), formally Duke Wenzhen of Guangping (廣平文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as the Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during th ...
in Song's attempt to investigate Zhang Changzong for corruption and plotting treason, but Wu Zetian did not permit the investigation. She did, however, approve a petition jointly submitted by him and
Li Jiao and supported by
Huan Yanfan that the people who were found guilty and executed due to accusations by her secret police officials (such as
Zhou Xing and
Lai Junchen) early in her reign be posthumously restored to honor.
In spring 705, with Wu Zetian continuing to be ill, Cui entered into a plot with a number of officials and generals, including
Zhang Jianzhi, Huan,
Jing Hui, and
Yuan Shuji
Yuan Shuji (; died 706), posthumous name Prince Zhenlie of Nanyang (南陽貞烈王), was an official of China's Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou, Wu Zhou dynasty, serving as Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong ...
, to kill the Zhang brothers. With agreement from Li Xian, they acted on February 20,
兩千年中西曆轉換
/ref> killing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and then surrounding Wu Zetian. While they allowed her to retain the title of "emperor," they had her put under house arrest at the secondary palace Shangyang Palace (上陽宮) and forced her to yield the throne to Li Xian, who was formerly emperor, and he was restored to the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong). As she confronted the plotters, she said to Cui, "All of the others became key officials because of others' recommendations. Only you were personally selected by myself, and yet you stand here with them." Cui responded, "What I do today is to repay your Imperial Majesty's great grace to me."
During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign
Cui Xuanwei, along with Zhang Jianzhi, Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, and Yuan Shuji, were recognized as leaders in Emperor Zhongzong's restoration, and they were put into key positions and created dukes, with Cui becoming ''Neishi'' (內史), the head of the legislative bureau and one of the posts considered one for a chancellor, and carrying the title of Duke of Boling. Soon, however, Emperor Zhongzong became heavily and deeply influenced by his powerful wife Empress Wei and her lover Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi (died August 7, 707), known posthumously as Prince Xuan of Liang (), was a Chinese prince and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. Wu Sansi served as a chancellor and imperial prince during the reign of his aunt, Empress Wu Zetia ...
the Prince of Liang (Wu Zetian's nephew and Emperor Zhongzong's cousin). Zhang fervently argued against the rise of Wu Sansi's power but was unable to do anything about it. Further, when Emperor Zhongzong also became trusting of sorcerers Zheng Pusi (鄭普思) and Ye Jingneng (葉靜能) and wanted to give Zheng and Ye honored positions, Cui and Huan spoke against it but was not listened to. In summer 705, by which time Emperor Zhongzong's trust in Cui and his colleagues had completely been lost, Emperor Zhongzong, following Wu Sansi's recommendation, created the five coup leaders princes—in Cui's case, Prince of Boling—but stripped them of chancellor positions. Cui was soon made the secretary general of Yi Prefecture (益州, roughly modern Chengdu
Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
, Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
) and acting commandant at Yi Prefecture.
In spring 706, with all five of the coup leaders already out of the capital, Wu Sansi and Empress Wei made accusations against them, and they were demoted to more remote prefectures—in Cui's case, to be the prefect of Jun Prefecture (均州, roughly modern Shiyan
Shiyan ( zh, s=十堰 , p=Shíyàn) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei, China, bordering Henan to the northeast, Chongqing to the southwest, and Shaanxi to the north and west. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,209,004 of who ...
, Hubei
Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...
). Wu Sansi then had his strategist Zheng Yin further accuse the five of them of having participated in the plot of Emperor Zhongzong's son-in-law Wang Tongjiao (王同皎) -- who was executed early in 706 after having been accused of plotting to kill Wu Sansi and deposing Empress Wei. The five were further demoted with the provisions that they would never be allowed to return to 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 ...
, with Cui becoming the military advisor to the prefect of Bai Prefecture (白州, roughly modern Yulin, Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
). Wu Sansi then had accusations that Empress Wei was having affairs posted publicly in the eastern capital Luoyang
Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
, with the intent of incensing Emperor Zhongzong—and then accused the five coup leaders of being behind this public humiliation. He then had his associates propose that the five be killed. Emperor Zhongzong, citing that the five had been previously awarded iron certificates that guaranteed that they would not be executed in recognition of their contribution, ordered that they be reduced to commoner rank and permanently exiled to the Lingnan
Lingnan (; ) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern China, Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong & Macau and Northern Vietnam.
Background
The ar ...
region with their families—in Cui's case, to Gu Prefecture (古州, roughly modern Lạng Sơn Province, Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
). At the suggestion of Cui Shi, Wu Sansi then sent the censor Zhou Lizhen (周利貞) to the Lingnan region under guise of reviewing the affairs of the region but with instructions to kill the five. By the time that Zhou reached the region, though, Cui Xuanwei had already died. After Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 and Li Dan, himself a former emperor, was restored (as Emperor Ruizong), Cui and his colleagues were posthumously honored, and his son Cui Qu (崔璩) received the title of Duke of Boling.
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. 9
* ''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 ...
'', vols. 207
Year 207 (Roman numerals, CCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 960 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...
, 208.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cui, Xuanwei
Chancellors under Wu Zetian
Chancellors under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Tang dynasty nonimperial princes
638 births
706 deaths
Cui clan of Boling