Cui Cha (崔詧) (died 689) was briefly a

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, during the first reign of Emperor Ruizong. Little is known about Cui Cha's career before his brief stint as chancellor, as, atypical for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the ''

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 ...

'' or the ''

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 ...

''.See the Table of Contents for the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the Table of Contents for the ''New Book of Tang''. It is, however, known that his family was from Lantian (藍田, in modern

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

). As of 684, he was serving as an assistant censor (監察御史, ''Jiancha Yushi''), when, in the midst of a rebellion by

Li Jingye Li Jingye (李敬業) (died December 29, 684), also known as Xu Jingye (徐敬業), was a Chinese military general and politician who was a grandson of the Tang Dynasty general Li Shiji who, after Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (late ...

the Duke of Ying against Emperor Ruizong's powerful mother and

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), the chancellor

Pei Yan Pei Yan (裴炎) (died November 30, 684), courtesy name Zilong (子隆), was a Chinese politician during the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong That dominated by Empress Wu, as well Later alone regency by his ...

suggested that Empress Dowager Wu could quell Li's rebellion easily by returning imperial authority to Emperor Ruizong. When Cui heard of Pei's suggestion, he submitted a note to Empress Dowager Wu stating, "Pei Yan received great responsibilities to look after the emperor after the deceased emperor Emperor_Gaozong).html" ;"title="mperor_Gaozong_of_Tang.html" ;"title="Empress Dowager Wu's husband Emperor Gaozong of Tang">Emperor Gaozong)">mperor_Gaozong_of_Tang.html" ;"title="Empress Dowager Wu's husband Emperor Gaozong of Tang">Emperor Gaozong)entrusted him with those great responsibilities. If he were not planning to commit treason, why would he want the Empress Dowager to give up her imperial powers?" In response, Empress Dowager Wu had Pei accused with and investigated for treason, and Pei was executed. Later that year, she made Cui, who was at that point an editor of the imperial archives (著作郎, ''Zhuzuo Lang''), ''Zhengjian Daifu'' (), a senior advisor at the examination bureau of government (鸞臺, ''Luantai'') and made him a chancellor ''de facto'', with the designation ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (), along with Shen Junliang. In spring 685, both he and Shen were removed from those posts. As of 689, Cui was serving as deputy minister of defense (夏官侍郎, ''Xiaguan Shilang''), when, for reasons lost to history, Empress Dowager Wu had him assassinated.

Notes and references

* ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vols. 203, 204. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cui, Cha Chancellors under Emperor Ruizong of Tang 689 deaths Politicians from Xi'an Year of birth unknown Tang dynasty politicians from Shaanxi Cui clan of Qinghe