Cui Qun

Cui Qun (崔群) (772 – August 30, 832), courtesy name Dunshi (敦詩), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong.

Cui Qun was born in 772, during the reign of Emperor Daizong. His family was from Bei Prefecture (貝州, in modern Xingtai, Hebei) and traced its ancestry to a line of officials of Cao Wei, Liu Song, Northern Wei, and Tang Dynasty. His grandfather Cui Chao (崔朝) served as a prefectural prefect, while his father Cui Ji (崔積) served as a supervisorial official in the central government. His family was a cadet branch of the Cui clan of Qinghe.

In 790, during the reign of Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, when Cui Qun was 18, he passed the imperial examinations in the class of those with policy proposals. He was initially made Xiaoshu Lang (校書郎), a copyeditor at the Palace Library, and later was made You Bujue (右補闕), a consultant at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng).

Early in the Yuanhe era (805-821) of Emperor Dezong's grandson Emperor Xianzong, Cui Qun was made Hanlin Xueshi (翰林學士), an imperial scholar. In 810, when the official Yuan Zhen was exiled after a conflict with an eunuch, Cui and his imperial scholar colleagues Li Jiang and Bai Juyi tried to defend Yuan, but they were not listened to. Still, it was said that Emperor Xianzong appreciated Cui for his honesty, and in 812, when Cui also carried the title of Kubu Langzhong (庫部郎中), a supervisorial official at the ministry of defense (兵部, Bingbu), he was promoted to be Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau, but continued to serve as imperial scholar as well. Emperor Xianzong also ordered that, when the other imperial scholars were to submit suggestions, they were to have Cui cosign the petition. Cui, however, opposed this order, pointing out that imperial scholars were to provide advice to the emperor, and that creating this precedent may cause the ability of the imperial scholars to do so be impeded in the future. Emperor Xianzong agreed and rescinded the order.

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