Cui Yan

Cui Yan
Official of Cao Cao
Born	(Unknown)
Died	216
Names
Traditional Chinese	崔琰
Simplified Chinese	崔琰
Pinyin	Cuī Yǎn
Wade–Giles	Ts'ui Yen
Courtesy name	Jigui (Chinese: 季珪; pinyin: Jìguī; Wade–Giles: Chi-kui)

Cui Yan (died 216),courtesy name Jigui, was an official serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty. In his early life, he served briefly in the local district office before leaving home to study under the tutelage of the Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan. In the late 190s, Cui Yan became a subordinate of the northern warlord Yuan Shao but did not make any significant achievements under the latter, who ignored his suggestions. Following Yuan Shao's death in 202, Cui Yan was imprisoned when he refused to help either of Yuan's sons – Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan – in their struggle over their father's territories. After he was freed, Cui Yan came to serve under Cao Cao, the de facto head of the Han central government. Throughout his years of service under Cao Cao, Cui Yan performed his duties faithfully and diligently, maintaining law and order within his bureau and recommending talents to join the civil service. In 216, in an incident widely regarded as a case of grievous injustice, Cui Yan was accused of defaming Cao Cao in a letter and ended up being stripped off his post, thrown into prison and subsequently forced to commit suicide.

Cui Yan was from Dongwucheng County (東武城縣), Qinghe Commandery (清河郡), Ji Province, which is around present-day Gucheng County, Hebei. In his youth, he was known to be plain, dull and lacking in communication skills, but he was very interested in swordsmanship and military arts. When he was 22 years old, he was nominated by the local district office to be a judicial officer, for which he was so grateful that he started reading books such as the Analects and Han Shi (韓詩)

Six years later, at the age of 28, Cui Yan befriended Gongsun Fang (公孫方) and others and they studied together under the tutelage of the Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan. However, in 184, before Cui Yan could complete his studies, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out in China. The rebels from Xu Province attacked Beihai Commandery (北海郡), where Zheng Xuan conducted his classes, so Zheng and his students fled east to Mount Buqi (不其山; northwest of Mount Lao) to evade chaos. Despite so, the rebellion had resulted in food shortages, so Zheng Xuan had no choice but to send his students away. After leaving Mount Buqi, Cui Yan could not return to Qinghe Commandery because rebel forces and bandits were rampant in the region and the roads leading west were blocked. He wandered around Qing, Xu, Yan and Yu provinces and visited several places, including Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui), Lake Tai and the northern bank of the Yangtze River. After four years, he returned home and spent his time playing music and writing calligraphy.

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