Cui Hang (崔沆) (died January 24, 881),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Neirong (內融), was an official 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 va ...

dynasty

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 ...

, serving as 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 ...

during the reign of Emperor Xizong. When the agrarian rebel

Huang Chao Huang Chao (835 – July 13, 884) was a Chinese smuggler, soldier, and rebel, and is most well known for being the leader of a major rebellion that severely weakened the Tang dynasty. Huang was a Salt in Chinese history, salt smuggler before ...

captured the Tang capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, Cui was unable to flee; he was then executed by Huang's new state of Qi.

Background

It is not known when Cui Hang was born. He was from the "Elder Boling branch" of the

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. T ...

(博陵, in modern Hengshui,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

), and his father

Cui Xuan Cui Xuan (), courtesy name Taishuo (), formally the Duke of Wei (), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving two terms as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Wuzong and Emperor Wuzong's uncle Emperor Xuānzong. Backgrou ...

served as a

during the reigns of Emperor Wuzong and Emperor Wuzong's uncle

Emperor Xuānzong Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (July 27, 810 – September 7, 859) (reigned April 25, 846 – September 7, 859) was an emperor in the latter part of the Tang dynasty of China. Personally named Li Yi, later renamed Li Chen (), and known before his rei ...

. He had at least four younger brothers, Cui Ting (崔汀), Cui Tan (崔潭), Cui Yi (崔沂), and Cui Ji (崔濟).

Career prior to chancellorship

At some point, Cui Hang passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to 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 ...

s in the ''Jinshi'' class, although when he did so is not known. He subsequently became a low-level official (員外郎, ''Yuanwailang'') in one of the ministries at the executive bureau of government (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''). Yet later, he was put in charge of drafting edicts and was made a ''Zhongshu Sheren'' (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng'').''

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. 163. In 872, during the reign of Emperor Yizong, the official Wei Yinyu (韋殷裕), whose wife was a cousin of Cui Hang's, submitted a report accusing Guo Jingshu (郭敬述), the brother of Emperor Yizong's favorite concubine Consort Guo, of improprieties. Emperor Yizong, in anger, caned Wei to death and confiscated his assets. Further, Wei's father-in-law (Cui Hang's uncle) Cui Yuanying (崔元應), Cui Hang, and a cousin of Cui Yuanying's, Cui Junqing (崔君卿) were all exiled, as was Wei's friend Du Yixiu (杜裔休), a son of the deceased chancellor Du Cong.''

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 ...

'', vol. 252. In Cui Hang's case, he was made the census officer at Xun Prefecture (循州, in modern Huizhou,

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

).''New Book of Tang'', vol. 160. After Emperor Yizong died in 873 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Xizong, Cui Hang was moved closer to the capital, to be the prefect of Yong Prefecture (永州, in modern

Yongzhou Yongzhou, formerly known as Lingling, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Hunan province, People's Republic of China, located on the southern bank of the Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, and b ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

). He was subsequently recalled to the capital

to again serve as ''Zhongshu Sheren'', and then successively as the deputy minister of rites (禮部侍郎, ''Lǐbu Shilang'') then deputy minister of civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, ''Lìbu Shilang'', note different tone).

Chancellorship

In 878, when Emperor Xizong decided to remove the chancellors Zheng Tian and

Lu Xi Lu Xie (盧攜) (died January 8, 881Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 254.), courtesy name Zisheng (子升), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving two terms as a chancellor during ...

over a violent argument that Zheng and Lu had with each other, both Cui Hang and

Doulu Zhuan Doulu Zhuan (豆盧瑑) (died January 24, 881), courtesy name Xizhen (希真), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xizong. When the agrarian rebel Huang Chao captured the Tang ...

were made chancellors to succeed Zheng and Lu, with the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事). After Lu was restored to the chancellorship in 879, though, Lu was clearly the leader among the chancellors, and Doulu was described as simply following Lu's lead on policies. Further, when Cui would have policy suggestions, Doulu often stopped him from presenting them.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 253. There was one major policy decision that he prevailed on — when the warlord Wang Jingchong, who controlled Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

), also sought to have the imperial government grant him Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding,

), Cui, pointing out that Chengde, in conjunction with other warlord-controlled circuits Weibo (魏博, headquartered in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

) and Lulong (盧龍, headquartered in modern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

), would be even harder to control, refused. By late 880, the major agrarian rebel

captured the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

and the capital

. Doulu and Cui suggested sending forces to defend Tong Pass to stop Huang's advance toward Chang'an, but both of them were also suggesting that the contingency plan made by the powerful

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

Tian Lingzi — that Emperor Xizong flee to the Sanchuan region (三川, i.e., modern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

, and southern

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 ...

) be implemented. After Huang captured Tong Pass and approached Chang'an, Emperor Xizong fled toward Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

), where Tian's brother

Chen Jingxuan Chen Jingxuan (陳敬瑄) (d. April 26, 893Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 259.) was a general of the Tang dynasty of China, who came to control Xichuan Circuit (西川), headquartered in modern Chengdu ...

was military governor.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 254. Doulu and Cui, for reasons unknown, were unable to follow Emperor Xizong's flight, and they, along with the former chancellor Liu Ye, hid at the mansion of the general

Zhang Zhifang Zhang Zhifang () (died January 23, 881?Academia Sinica
Chinese-Western Calendar Converter ''

, who had outwardly submitted to Huang (who declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qi) upon Huang's entry into Chang'an but was hiding many Tang officials at his mansion. As Qi forces sought to find hiding Tang officials, however, Liu, Doulu, and Cui tried to flee, but were captured. Refusing to submit to Huang, they were executed.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 177.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 163. * ''

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. * ''

'', vols.

252 Year 252 ( CCLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Trebonianus and Volusianus (or, less frequently, year 1005 ''Ab urbe ...

253 __NOTOC__ Year 253 ( CCLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Volusianus and Claudius (or, less frequently, year 100 ...

254 Year 254 ( CCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus (or, less frequently, year 1007 '' Ab urbe ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cui, Hang 9th-century births 881 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Xizong of Tang People executed by China by decapitation Qi (Huang Chao) Executed Tang dynasty people 9th-century executions by the Tang dynasty Cui clan of Boling