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| Clan and Official Career Life of Tang Poet Cui Bei |
| Shen Wenfan, Xie Mengying |
| School of Literature, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China |
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Abstract Cui Bei was a poet in the Tang Dynasty. At present, seven epitaphs of his family have been unearthed, which can be a good supplement to the less recorded information in history books on Cui Yuan’s family, a branch descendant of Cui Zhiwen. Cui Bei’s origin is the Qinghe Cui Clan, whose great-grandfather, Cui Zhiwen, was the prime minister for Emperor Gaozong, and whose grandfather, Cui Taizhi, was the director of the Ministry of Works. However, his father, Cui Yuan, was little known, with nothing found in history books and no epitaphs unearthed.This essay gives an exhaustive study on poet Cui Bei’s family, official career and his poems with the seven unearthed epitaphs of his family as the main research materials. Cui Yuan, Cui Bei’s father, was the son of Cui Taizhi and his second wife Li. He inherited the title of Duke Qinghe. Researchers found that Cui Yuan and the name “Cui Chengli” inscribed in Cui Taizhi’s epitaph were two different persons. “Cui Chengli” was the son of Cui Taizhi and his first wife Lu. 761 (the second year of the Shangyuan) -766 (the first year of the Dali), taking his mother, wife, and children along, Cui Yuan went to Cui Yuan, a clan relative, for shelter, who was then the chief secretary in the Supreme Military Officer’s Office of Yangzhou. Since then, the descendants of Cui Taizhi lived in the south and never returned to their hometown in the north. In 795 (the eleventh year of Zhenyuan), Cui Yuan died in Wuxing, Huzhou and was buried here. Cui Bei’s brother, Cui Huangzuo, who was an intellectual without official positions and always accompanied Cui Yuan, got married with the daughter of the county officer of Changcheng in Huzhou. One year after Cui Yuan’s death, Cui Huangzuo traveled to Tongguan County and died there in the brigade house. March of spring in 816 (the eleventh year of Yuanhe), Cui Bei died, with the will to move the buried remains of his late family members back into Cui’s hometown ancestral tombs. Therefore, the family of Cui made the major move, lasting over five months, from the burial sites in Yangzhou (within Jianghuai region), Wuxing (in Huzhou), Danyang (in Runzhou), and Tongguan County (near the capital area) respectively. The reburial tasks were undertaken by Quanzhong and Jingyu separately in two different places. First, Quanzhong had Li, Zhao and Yan untombed from the eastern administrative region of Jiangnan, and Jingyu had Cui Huangzuo untombed from the Tongguan County. After that, the two groups joined at their ancestral tombs located in Luoyang. The research of Cui Bei’s Epitaph and related poems chronologically revealed Cui Bei’s official career life as follows.Since 785 (the first year of Zhenyuan), Cui Bei had been inaugurated as an observation inspector in the western administrative region of Jiangnan. In 792 (the eighth year of Zhenyuan), Cui Bei took the office as an inspector in Jianghuai Inspection Bureau on the invitation of Zhang Pang, who was the national transportation official in charge of salt and iron. In 794 (the tenth year of Zhenyuan), Zhang Pang was dismissed from the office for offending Pei Yanling. Although Cui Bei remained in his post, his working location changed from Jiangxi to western Zhejiang. In 795 (the eleventh year of Zhenyuan), Cui Yuan died, and Cui Bei was suspended from his duty in mourning. In 805 (the first year of Yongzhen), Li Qi, the transportation official at that time, was dismissed from the National Salt and Iron Office for an alleged conspiracy against the state, an event which caused Cui Bei, Pei Du, Lu Tan, and some others, to leave the western government office of Zhejiang in succession. In 807 (the second year of Yuanhe), Cui Bei took the job as the Xichuan branch judge on the invitation of Wu Yuanheng. In 810 (the fifth year of Yuanhe), Cui Bei returned to the imperial government to serve as the Imperial Diarist and Minister of Rites. In 811 (the sixth year of Yuanhe), Cui Bei, besides his original work, was appointed to another duty as the Royal Drafter of Edicts or Mandates.Cui Bei and his grandfather, Cui Taizhi, both had their poems and writings preserved. Up till now, six poems, two pieces of writing, and four incomplete verses by Cui Bei and four poems by Cui Taizhi have been found. The study of the poet Cui Bei’s family, official career life, and his poems and writings can contribute to further studies on poets’ families in the Tang Dynasty.
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Received: 02 November 2023
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2024, Vol. 54 
