Cui Ning - Background

Background

Cui Gan was born in 723, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Wei Prefecture (衛州, in modern Puyang, Henan), and had a long tradition of Confucian scholarship. Despite this, though, Cui Gang was interested in military strategies. At one point, Ru Zhang (茹璋) the prefect of Wei Prefecture recommended him to be the magistrate of Fuli County (符離, in modern Suzhou, Anhui). After his term of service was complete, however, he was not given another official position. He journeyed to Jiannan Circuit (劍南, headquartered in modern Chengdu) and became a soldier in the army there. He successively served under the military governor (Jiedushi) Xianyu Zhongtong (鮮于仲通) and the general Li Mi (李宓) and participated in Li Mi's campaign against Nanzhao in 754. After Li Mi's defeat that year, Cui returned to the circuit headquarters at Chengdu. The military commander Cui Lun (崔論) was impressed by Cui Gan's appearance and was endeared to him because they shared the same surname, and therefore recommended him to be a commander of the guards for the military governor. Subsequently, Cui Gan served under Cui Yuan and Pei Mian. After Pei was falsely accused and exiled in 762, Emperor Daizong (Emperor Xuanzong's grandson) sent eunuchs to try to investigate Pei for possible misconduct while serving as governor. Cui Gan induced his subordinates to cut off their ears to proclaim Pei's innocence. When the eunuchs returned to capital Chang'an to report this to Emperor Daizong, Cui was recalled to Chang'an to serve as an officer in the imperial forces. Around this time, there was much disturbance in the Shu region (i.e., modern Sichuan and Chongqing), and bandits often blocked off road access. Emperor Daizong was concerned about this, and the official Yan Wu (嚴武) recommended Cui Gan to be the prefect of Li Prefecture (利州, in modern Guangyuan, Sichuan) to combat the banditry. Once Cui arrived at Li Prefecture, the banditry ceased, and this led to fame for him.