Cui Shenji (崔神基), formally the Duke of Qingqiu (清丘公), was a Chinese official of the

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 ...

and the

Wu Zhou dynasty Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county ...

, briefly serving as

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

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

's reign. It is not known when Cui was born, but it is known that his family was from Bei Prefecture (貝州, part of modern

Xingtai Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...

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 ...

). His father Cui Yixuan (崔義玄) had served as a general and official under Tang's first three emperors -- Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Taizong, and Emperor Gaozong (Wu Zetian's husband) and had been created by Emperor Gaozu as the Duke of Qingqiu. When Wu Zetian was a favorite

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of Emperor Gaozong, Cui was part of a court faction that supported her in her effort to displace Emperor Gaozong's first wife Empress Wang and later, after she did become

empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, assisted in her effort to take vengeance on officials who opposed her ascension, including Emperor Gaozong's uncle

Zhangsun Wuji Zhangsun Wuji (; died 659), courtesy name Fuji (輔機), formally the Duke of Zhao, was a Chinese politician who served as a chancellor in the early Tang dynasty. He was Empress Zhangsun's brother, which made him a brother-in-law of Emperor Tai ...

. After Wu Zetian became "emperor" in 690, she remembered his contributions to her and further posthumously honored him. After Cui Yixuan's death, Cui Shenji inherited his title. As of 692, he was serving as the minister of vassal affairs (司賓卿, ''Sibin Qing''), when Wu Zetian gave him the designation of ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. Just slightly over a month later, however, he, along with other chancellors Li Youdao,

Wang Xuan Wang Xuan (; February 5, 1937 – February 13, 2006), born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, was a Chinese computer scientist. He was a computer application specialist and innovator of the Chinese printing industry, as well as an academician at both the Chinese ...

Yuan Zhihong Yuan Zhihong (袁智弘) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor. Despite Yuan high status, little is firmly established about his background or career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusu ...

Li Yuansu Li Yuansu (李元素) (died October 26, 696) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving twice as chancellor. Li Yuansu was the younger brother of Li Jingxuan, who served as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian's husband Emperor Gaozo ...

, and other officials Kong Siyuan (孔思元), and Ren Linghui (任令輝), were falsely accused of crimes by Wu Zetian's secret police official

Wang Hongyi Wang Hongyi () (died 694) was a secret police official during the History of China, Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty. It is not known when Wang Hongyi was born, but it is known that he was from Hengshui. He was known as a ...

. They were relieved from their posts and exiled to the

Lingnan Lingnan (; Vietnamese: Lĩnh Nam) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as modern northe ...

region. He was gradually repromoted. Later, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's and Wu Zetian's son Emperor Zhongzong, he served as the chief judge of the supreme court (大理卿). It is not known when he died.

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. 7

* ''

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. 10

* ''

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. 205. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cui, Shenji Chancellors under Wu Zetian Chinese judges Cui clan of Qinghe