Cui Shenyou
Cui Shenyou (
Background and early career
[edit]It is not known when Cui Shenyou was born. He was from the prominent Cui clan of Qinghe (
Cui Shenyou passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class early in the Taihe era (827-835) of Emperor Wenzong, and further passed a special examination for those who were considered good and righteous. He was said to be intelligent, with a good memory, and mild in his disposition.[2] He later served on the staff of Gao Zhu (
During Emperor Xuānzong's reign
[edit]Later, during the reign of Emperor Wenzong's uncle Emperor Xuānzong,[2] Cui was recalled serving as You Shiyi (
In 856, Cui, who was then serving as the minister of public works (
However, in 857, Xiao was made chancellor as well, and Xiao, who had previously been a colleague of Cui's while both served as imperial scholars, did not have a good relationship with Cui. Xiao recommended Liu Zhuan to serve as chancellor as well, and Liu was made a chancellor in 858.[2][4] After Liu was made chancellor, there was an occasion when Cui, when discussing the policy priorities of the time with Emperor Xuānzong, mentioned that he wanted to make distinguishing officials' ancestries a top priority. Liu sharply disagreed and pointed out that the priorities should be to make sure that the officials' talents were appropriate for their positions, and Cui was unable to respond.[4]
Later in 858, there was an incident that caused Emperor Xuānzong to be displeased with Cui. Emperor Xuānzong wanted to declare a general pardon, which the senior chancellor Linghu Tao opposed on the basis of the expense involved (as general pardons customarily required bestowing of rewards to imperial guard soldiers[5]) and that the state should not have repeated pardons without good reasons.[4] (Emperor Xuānzong had previously declared general pardons four times in his reign — in 847, 848, 850, and 853.[4][6]) When Cui subsequently suggested that if Emperor Xuānzong created one of his sons Crown Prince then that would be a good reason to declare a general pardon, Emperor Xuānzong, who did not want to create a crown prince and whose disposition had turned impatient and suspicious due to side effects of alchemists' pills that he was taking, was displeased with Cui.[4] Xiao used the opportunity to persuade Emperor Xuānzong to remove Cui.[2] Cui was thereafter made the military governor (Jiedushi) of Dongchuan Circuit (
After Emperor Xuānzong's reign
[edit]Early in the Xiantong era (860-874) of Emperor Xuānzong's son Emperor Yizong, Cui Shenyou was made the prefect of Hua Prefecture (
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ New Book of Tang, vol. 72."
漢 川 草 廬 -二 十 四 史 -新 唐 書 -卷 七 十 二 ‧表 第 十 二 ". Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2008-10-03."新 唐 書 -宰相 世 系 二 (崔 氏 )". Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-08-06. - ^ a b c d e Old Book of Tang, vol. 177.
- ^ a b New Book of Tang, vol. 114.
- ^ a b c d e f g Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 249.
- ^ Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 60 [858].
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 248.