319:, who had been chancellor. Cui did not submit to this arrangement, and when Zhang attacked him in spring 766, Cui defeated Zhang easily. Meanwhile, Du and Cui were exchanging messengers, and Cui acted as respectfully as possible and offered bribes to Du. When Du arrived at Chengdu, Cui treated him with the utmost formal respect but did not permit him any actual control over the governance. In response, Du repeatedly recommended to Emperor Daizong to let Cui become military governor while placating Bo, Yang, and Li Changkui by making them prefects of their prefectures. Emperor Daizong reluctantly agreed, although he initially made Cui only the mayor of Chengdu Municipality and the military commander, under Du. In 767, Du requested to return to Chang'an. Emperor Daizong agreed, and he made Cui the military governor and let Du resume his service as chancellor. Meanwhile, Cui also assured of his position by giving large bribes to Du's powerful chancellor colleague
243:). Emperor Daizong named Guo Ying'ai as the military governor, and it was said that because of Cui's contrary recommendation, Guo Ying'ai bore a grudge against Cui and Wang. Immediately after he arrived at Chengdu, he made false charges against Wang and executed him. He then summoned Cui, who was then back on the Tufan front, back to Chengdu. Cui, believing it to be a trap, refused. Guo Ying'ai then cut off Cui's army's food supplies and further took an army, ready to attack Cui. His advances were stymied by a sudden snowstorm that killed many of his soldiers and animals, however, and Cui then made a surprise attack, defeating him and forcing him to flee back to Chengdu. At that time, the army at Chengdu was resentful toward Guo Ying'ai because he was arrogant, wasteful, and harsh. Cui seized the moment to publicly accuse Guo Ying'ai of treason—pointing out that Guo Ying'ai had taken an effigy of Emperor Xuanzong out of a
531:). The Jingyuan soldiers then supported Zhu Ci as their leader, and while Zhu was initially pretending to be preparing to put down the mutiny and welcome Emperor Dezong back to Chang'an, it soon became clear that he was planning to take over as emperor. Meanwhile, when Emperor Dezong fled out of the city, few imperial officials knew the direction of his flight and therefore few followed him. Several days later, Cui Ning arrived at Fengtian, and initially, Emperor Dezong was pleased. However, Emperor Dezong's trusted chancellor
188:), Yan did not feel comfortable requesting Zhang to allow him to have Cui as a subordinate. Cui pointed out that Zhang never fully trusted him and that Zhang favored treasure—suggesting that if Yan made the request and also gave Zhang a substantial gift, Zhang would agree. Once Yan arrived at Chengdu, he sent Zhang a gift of rare treasures, and then requested Zhang to allow him to have Cui. Zhang agreed, and Yan commissioned Cui as the prefect of Han Prefecture (漢州, in modern
362:, and Qiang tribes, killing over 10,000 soldiers. He repelled a Tufan attack in 777 as well. Meanwhile, it was said that because Xichuan Circuit had natural defenses and was rich, Cui grew arrogant of his position and gathered great wealth. It was also said that he committed adultery with many wives and concubines of his subordinates. The imperial government feared him but could not control him, and had to repeatedly bestow additional honors on him to keep him in check.
406:
but Yang opposed—pointing out that during Cui's tenure, he had effectively turned
Xichuan into an independent realm, not submitting taxes or other resources to the imperial government. Yang argued that even if Cui were able to successfully defeat Tufan and Nanzhao forces, it would be even more difficult to move him later on; instead, he suggested that imperial guard soldiers and elite soldiers from Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern
332:) as acting military governor in his stead. Yang took this opportunity to make a surprise attack from Lu Prefecture and briefly entered Chengdu. When the news arrived at Chang'an, Emperor Daizong immediately sent Cui Gan back to Xichuan to put down Yang's uprising—and also bestowed on Cui a new name of Ning (寧, meaning "comfort"). Meanwhile, Cui Kuan initially could not fight Yang off, but Cui Ning's
549:). He had Wang make a secret report to Emperor Dezong that on the way to Fengtian, Cui had frequently stopped to defecate or urinate and appeared to be waiting for Zhu Ci's soldiers. Meanwhile, Zhu, who had declared himself emperor of a new state of Qin, in order to try to create suspicion in Emperor Dezong's minds, also publicly announced that he was making Cui and
398:, who by that point had become the most powerful chancellor at court, despite the fact that they had a previous cordial relationship as fellow associates of Yuan Zai's. The relationship between Cui and Yang was further strained as Yang was repeatedly making accusations against another imperial official,
559:) into forging a letter from Cui to Zhu, offering to betray Fengtian to him. Lu, presenting the forgery to Emperor Dezong, thus falsely accused Cui of treason. Emperor Dezong believed Lu's accusations. He summoned Cui to his presence under the guise of giving him the mission of comforting the Yangtze-
414:
to Chang'an when Zhu was made chancellor—be sent to fight the Tufan and
Nanzhao forces, and once the campaign was over, Xichuan would be back in imperial control. Emperor Dezong agreed with Yang's proposal and kept Cui at Chang'an. Subsequently, Yang claimed that the northern border needed a senior
567:
to issue an edict declaring Cui's guilt, Lu Zhi requested that Lu Qi give him the letter from Cui to Zhu—and Lu Qi then claimed that the letter had been lost. Further, many people were then proclaiming Cui's innocence. As a result, Emperor Dezong, who was initially set to make Cui's family members
405:
While Cui was at Chang'an, Tufan and
Nanzhao forces launched a major joint attack against Xichuan Circuit, and Cui's subordinates were unable to fight them off. When the news arrived at Chang'an, Emperor Daizong was inclined to order Cui to return to Xichuan Circuit at once. Cui was set to depart,
204:
tribes. Yan had Cui command an army to attack Tufan, and it was said that because Cui was capable in comforting his soldiers, the soldiers fought hard for him. He was able to recapture four cities from Tufan, and when he returned to
Chengdu, Yan showed his favor to Cui by making a wagon with seven
247:
temple dedicated to
Emperor Xuanzong and converted the temple to his own mansion. Cui then attacked Chengdu and defeated Guo Ying'ai, forcing him to flee. Once Cui entered into Chengdu, he slaughtered Guo Ying'ai's household, and Guo Ying'ai himself was killed in flight by Han Cheng
95:). After his term of service was complete, however, he was not given another official position. He journeyed to Jiannan Circuit (劍南, headquartered in modern Chengdu) and became a soldier in the army there. He successively served under the military governor (
523:) to Chang'an, ready to send them to join the campaigns in the east. When the Jingyuan soldiers arrived at Chang'an, however, they were displeased at the lack of imperial awards, and they mutinied, forcing Emperor Dezong to flee to Fengtian (奉天, in modern
336:
Lady Ren was herself capable in military matters, and she used her wealth to engage a group of soldiers; Cui Kuan was able to use the soldiers she gathered to fight Yang off, and Yang left
Chengdu, eventually leaving the circuit by heading east on
394:). Treating his chief imperial censor title as not just honorary, however, Cui proposed that the subordinate imperial censors be recommended by the chief imperial censor (i.e., himself) rather than by chancellors—and this drew resentment from
173:
Subsequently, in 764, Yan Wu was made the military governor of
Jiannan Circuit, and as he was heading to his post, he went through Li Prefecture. He wanted Cui Gan to serve under him, but as at that time Cui's superior was Zhang Xiancheng
123:) was impressed by Cui Gan's appearance and was endeared to him because they shared the same surname, and therefore recommended him to be a commander of the guards for the military governor. Subsequently, Cui Gan served under
574:), then a military governor himself, offered to give up an honorary title he had in exchange to be posthumously declared innocent. Emperor Dezong agreed, and also returned Cui's body to his family for proper reburial.
590:
139:
to try to investigate Pei for possible misconduct while serving as governor. Cui Gan induced his subordinates to cut off their ears to proclaim Pei's innocence. When the eunuchs returned to capital
427:). Shuofang was normally a very important and powerful command. However, Yang weakened Cui's authority substantially by naming three deputies for Cui with independent authorities to act—Du Xiquan (
143:
to report this to
Emperor Daizong, Cui was recalled to Chang'an to serve as an officer in the imperial forces. Around this time, there was much disturbance in the Shu region (i.e., modern
457:), stationed at Fang Prefecture (坊州, i.e., at Cui's headquarters). Yang secretly ordered the three of them to watch over Cui carefully. Nevertheless, Cui and his subordinate Lü Xiqian (
350:
In 775, Cui Ning reported that he had a great victory over Tufan forces, killing over 10,000 Tufan soldiers. In 776, he again reported a victory over Tufan and its allied
341:. Cui Ning subsequently sent Cui Kuan to Chang'an, and because of the large amount of bribes that Cui Ning gave Yuan Zai, Yuan had Cui Kuan and another brother, Cui Shen (
713:
does not list Cui as an actual chancellor, implying that, despite his subsequently remaining at Chang'an, his chancellor title remained honorary rather than actual. See
467:
tribesmen to submit to Tang, and this drew further displeasure from Yang. He had Lü recalled to Chang'an under guise of a promotion and replaced Lü with Shi
Changchun (
219:) served as acting military governor after his death, but there were competing recommendations for his permanent replacement. One of the key officers, Guo Yinggan (
539:
Our master, the emperor, is intelligent and decisive, and he follows good advice. But he has been led astray by Lu Qi such that he now is in this lamentable state.
303:
Emperor
Daizong tried to settle the situation by dividing the circuit—making the eastern half of the circuit into Dongchuan Circuit (東川, headquartered in modern
499:
By 783, Emperor Dezong was waging a number of campaigns against several military governors to the east who were not following imperial orders—Zhu Ci's brother
543:
Lu feared that Cui would accuse him of causing the calamity, and therefore secretly plotted with an official who had arrived at Fengitan with Cui, Wang Hong (
833:
828:
823:
374:. After Emperor Dezong's ascension, Cui Ning went to Chang'an to pay homage to the new emperor, and was given several high honorific titles --
311:) and giving the command to Zhang Xiancheng, making the rest into Xichuan Circuit, while giving Bo and Cui the lesser titles of defender (防禦使,
676:, used the phrase "Cui Ning reported that ..." in each of these incidents, apparently displaying some disbelief in Cui's reports. See
848:
563:
region, and once Cui arrived, had imperial soldiers strangle Cui to death. When Emperor Dezong commissioned the imperial scholar
117:
in 754. After Li Mi's defeat that year, Cui returned to the circuit headquarters at Chengdu. The military commander Cui Lun (
721:
797:
793:
789:
785:
781:
741:
697:
681:
57:, apprehensive that Cui would blame the rebellion on him, falsely accused Cui of being complicit in Zhu's rebellion.
757:
648:
843:
151:), and bandits often blocked off road access. Emperor Daizong was concerned about this, and the official Yan Wu (
165:) to combat the banditry. Once Cui arrived at Li Prefecture, the banditry ceased, and this led to fame for him.
769:
473:). Eventually, in 781, he also had Cui recalled to the capital, and Cui retained only his honorary title of
85:
scholarship. Despite this, though, Cui Gang was interested in military strategies. At one point, Ru Zhang (
623:, discussing Yan's death in 765, indicated that Yan was made the military governor of Jiannan in 764. See
853:
262:), who delivered Guo Ying'ai's head to Cui. Several other Jiannan officers rose against Cui—Bo Maolin (
838:
269:
51:
201:
237:), who was then an imperial official at Chang'an. Cui recommended another officer, Wang Chongjun (
91:) the prefect of Wei Prefecture recommended him to be the magistrate of Fuli County (符離, in modern
70:
395:
136:
132:
42:) effectively independently from the imperial government, but was eventually kept at the capital
399:
371:
124:
58:
564:
326:
In 768, Cui went to Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Daizong, leaving his brother Cui Kuan (
532:
512:
54:
568:
slaves and confiscate his assets, did neither. In 796, Cui's former subordinate Han Tan (
8:
818:
813:
379:
114:
764:
752:
611:
605:
718:
725:
652:
415:
general—someone like Cui—to defend it, and had Cui made the military governor of
355:
34:. For over a decade, he ruled over Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern
776:
448:
197:
196:). At that time, a large part of former Jiannan territory had been captured by
180:) the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern
807:
338:
92:
669:
515:. He summoned soldiers from Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern
463:) -- whom Yang had commissioned as well—were successful in persuading many
82:
27:
645:
316:
140:
43:
157:) recommended Cui Gan to be the prefect of Li Prefecture (利州, in modern
673:
560:
504:
359:
615:
gave a date for this event, but notes by the modern Chinese historian
516:
464:
420:
333:
293:
158:
148:
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320:
304:
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128:
97:
46:
by the imperial government in 779. Subsequently, when the general
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407:
308:
297:
283:
259:
193:
185:
162:
144:
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35:
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chancellors. Lu and Wang also forced Cui's secretary Kang Dan (
487:), one of the heads of the executive bureau of government (尚書省,
411:
279:
255:
244:
189:
74:
47:
520:
386:), director for construction of Emperor Daizong's tomb (山陵使,
351:
78:
31:
370:
In 779, Emperor Daizong died and was succeeded by his son
208:
50:
rebelled in 783 and established a new state of Qin, the
365:
73:. His family was from Wei Prefecture (衛州, in modern
131:. After Pei was falsely accused and exiled in 762,
231:), recommended Guo Yinggan's brother Guo Ying'ai (
205:kind of jewels to welcome him back into the city.
315:) under the command of the new military governor
300:) -- throwing the circuit into a confused state.
61:, believing Lu's accusations, had Cui strangled.
805:
433:), stationed at Ling Prefecture (靈州, in modern
113:) and participated in Li Mi's campaign against
447:), stationed at Sui Prefecture (綏州, in modern
410:) -- who had followed their military governor
254:) the prefect of Pu Prefecture (普州, in modern
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603:Neither Cui's nor Yan's biographies in the
535:soon received word that Cui had commented:
834:Tang dynasty generals at war against Tibet
419:Circuit (朔方, then headquartered in modern
225:), and the discipline officer Guo Jialin (
829:Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shuofang Circuit
824:Tang dynasty jiedushi of Xichuan Circuit
637:
635:
633:
577:
213:Yan Wu died in 765. His deputy Du Ji (
168:
16:General of the Tang dynasty (723 - 783)
806:
209:Seizure and control of Xichuan Circuit
625:Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian
621:Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian
630:
390:), and chief imperial censor (御史大夫,
366:Retention by the imperial government
292:) at Jian Prefecture (劍州, in modern
135:(Emperor Xuanzong's grandson) sent
13:
278:) at Lu Prefecture (瀘州, in modern
22:(崔寧) (723 – November 10, 783), né
14:
865:
384:Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi
849:Tang dynasty generals from Henan
709:The table of chancellors in the
81:), and had a long tradition of
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274:
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1:
402:, and Cui was defending Liu.
64:
7:
26:(崔旰), was a general of the
10:
870:
477:but also had him serve as
555:
545:
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469:
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429:
382:), chancellor (同中書門下平章事,
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264:
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221:
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153:
119:
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107:) and the general Li Mi (
103:
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494:
347:), repeatedly promoted.
844:Politicians from Puyang
491:), but not chancellor.
541:
537:
441:); Zhang Guangsheng (
651:May 8, 2009, at the
578:Notes and references
286:), and Li Changkui (
169:Service under Yan Wu
101:) Xianyu Zhongtong (
451:); and Li Jianhui (
854:Cui clan of Qinghe
724:2008-09-22 at the
664:The author of the
380:Three Excellencies
839:Mayors of Chengdu
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765:New Book of Tang
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627:, vol. 54 .
392:Yushi Daifu
388:Shanlingshi
317:Du Hongjian
819:783 deaths
814:723 births
808:Categories
674:Sima Guang
672:historian
561:Huai River
505:Wang Wujun
65:Background
52:chancellor
619:, in his
517:Pingliang
479:You Pushe
465:Dangxiang
334:concubine
313:Fangyushi
294:Guangyuan
159:Guangyuan
149:Chongqing
83:Confucian
780:, vols.
770:vol. 144
758:vol. 117
742:vol. 228
722:Archived
698:vol. 226
682:vol. 225
649:Archived
646:vol. 117
525:Xianyang
509:Tian Yue
435:Yinchuan
417:Shuofang
396:Yang Yan
321:Yuan Zai
305:Mianyang
182:Hanzhong
141:Chang'an
129:Pei Mian
125:Cui Yuan
98:Jiedushi
44:Chang'an
20:Cui Ning
719:vol. 62
617:Bo Yang
609:or the
591:"中央研究院"
551:Liu Hun
529:Shaanxi
501:Zhu Tao
439:Ningxia
425:Shaanxi
408:Beijing
400:Liu Yan
356:Tuyuhun
309:Sichuan
298:Sichuan
284:Sichuan
260:Sichuan
194:Sichuan
186:Shaanxi
163:Sichuan
145:Sichuan
137:eunuchs
115:Nanzhao
40:Sichuan
36:Chengdu
24:Cui Gan
668:, the
565:Lu Zhi
511:, and
475:Sikong
421:Yan'an
412:Zhu Ci
376:Sikong
280:Luzhou
256:Ziyang
245:Taoist
190:Deyang
75:Puyang
48:Zhu Ci
533:Lu Qi
521:Gansu
513:Li Na
495:Death
352:Tujue
268:) at
202:Qiang
198:Tufan
79:Henan
55:Lu Qi
32:China
147:and
127:and
104:鮮于仲通
798:228
794:227
790:226
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782:224
484:右僕射
470:時常春
460:呂希倩
454:李建徽
444:張光晟
430:杜希全
289:李昌夔
275:楊子琳
265:柏茂琳
240:王崇俊
234:郭英乂
228:郭嘉琳
222:郭英幹
177:張獻誠
30:of
810::
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632:^
571:韓潭
556:康湛
546:王翃
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503:,
437:,
423:,
360:Di
358:,
354:,
344:崔審
329:崔寬
323:.
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296:,
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258:,
251:韓澄
216:杜濟
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184:,
161:,
154:嚴武
120:崔論
110:李宓
88:茹璋
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38:,
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