Cui Yan 崔琰

Cui Yan, courtesy name Jigui, was a man of Dongwucheng County in Qinghe State. In his youth he was simple and slow of speech, loved swordsmanship and esteemed martial pursuits. At twenty-three, when he was conscripted by his township, he was at last stirred to effort and read the Analects and the Han school of the Odes, and at twenty-nine he went with Gongsun Fang and others to study under Zheng Xuan. Before a year had passed, the Yellow Turbans of Xu Province broke Beihai, and Zheng Xuan took refuge with his students on Mount Buqi; when even grain to buy ran out, he sent the students home. Records, Wei 12 §2

Though sent home, Cui Yan found the westward roads impassable because they were full of bandits, so he wandered the countryside of Qing, Xu, Yan and Yu Provinces, went down east as far as Shouchun and looked south toward the Yangtze and the lakes. Only four years after leaving home did he return, and he amused himself with the zither and books. Records, Wei 12 §3

The General-in-Chief Yuan Shao summoned him. When Yuan Shao's soldiers dug up graves, Cui Yan advised that the commanderies and counties be ordered to bury the exposed bones, and Yuan Shao made him Cavalry Commandant. When Yuan Shao drilled his troops at Liyang and halted at Yanjin, Cui Yan again advised that, since the Emperor was at Xu, it would be better to guard his borders and carry out his duties. Yuan Shao did not listen and was defeated at Guandu. After Yuan Shao died, his two sons competed to win Cui Yan over, but he firmly declined on the pretext of illness, and for this he was imprisoned until Yin Kui and Chen Lin worked hard to rescue him and he was released. Records, Wei 12 §4–5

When Cao Cao defeated the Yuan family and concurrently held the post of Governor of Ji Province, he summoned Cui Yan and made him Attendant Officer with Separate Carriage. When Cao Cao said that on examining the household registers he could raise 300,000 soldiers and so it was a great province, Cui Yan replied that the people of Ji Province had their bones lying exposed in the fields, and yet instead of inquiring into their customs and rescuing them from misery he was first counting armored soldiers; was this what the men and women of the province hoped for? Cao Cao changed his expression and apologized, and the guests present all bowed down and turned pale. Records, Wei 12 §6

When Cao Cao campaigned against Bing Province, he left Cui Yan at Ye to assist his heir Cao Pi. When the heir changed his clothes and carriage and went out hunting, Cui Yan submitted a letter saying that the sons of the Yuan family had indulged in hunting and pleasure and so, despite commanding a host of a million, had lost even a place to set their feet in Hebei, and urging him to burn his hunting blind and discard his hunting clothes. The heir replied that the blind had already been broken and the hunting clothes put away. Records, Wei 12 §7–10

When Cao Cao became Chancellor, Cui Yan became an official of the East and West Bureaus and a Consultant. When entrusting him with the East Bureau, Cao Cao issued an instruction saying that he had the manner of Bo Yi and the uprightness of Shi Yu and was fit to lead his age. Cui Yan was in charge of selecting talent together with Mao Jie, and as Officer of the East Bureau he recommended Bing Yuan and Zhang Fan as precious treasures of the state. Lu Yu also became Registrar of Ji Province on his recommendation. Records, Wei 12 §11 · 23Records, Wei 11 §72Records, Wei 22 §91

When the state of Wei was first established, he became Master of Writing. As the heir had not yet been named and Cao Zhi, Marquis of Linzi, was talented and beloved, Cao Cao hesitated and secretly consulted those outside by sealed letter. Cui Yan alone answered in an unsealed letter that the principle of the Spring and Autumn Annals was to name the eldest son as heir, that the General of the Household for All Purposes was benevolent, filial and intelligent and should carry on the legitimate line, and that he would uphold this unto death. Cao Zhi was the husband of Cui Yan's elder brother's daughter. Cao Cao prized his impartiality and clarity, sighed deeply, and transferred him to Commandant of the Capital. Records, Wei 12 §11–12

Cui Yan's voice and bearing were fine and open, his beard was four feet long, and he had great dignity; the gentlemen of the court looked up to him, and Cao Cao too respected and stood in awe of him. He told Sima Lang that his younger brother Sima Yi was beyond Sima Lang's reach, said of his younger cousin Cui Lin that great vessels are completed late, and called Sun Li and Lu Yu men fit for the Three Excellencies; later Cui Lin, Sun Li and Lu Yu all reached the highest offices. He cared for the orphans of his friends Gongsun Yu and Song Jie, who had died young, as if they were his own children. Records, Wei 12 §13 · 16–17

Cui Yan had recommended Yang Xun of Julu, and when Cao Cao became King of Wei, Yang Xun submitted a memorial praising his merits, so people laughed at Yang Xun and said Cui Yan had made a poor recommendation. Cui Yan looked at the draft of the memorial and wrote to Yang Xun, 'Having read your memorial, the matter is merely fine! The times, the times — there is bound to be a time of change.' His real intention was to mock the critics who liked only to censure and did not consider the circumstances. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that Cao Cao became King of Wei in the 5th month, in summer, of the 21st year of Jian'an (216). Records, Wei 12 §13–14Records, Wei 1 §154

When someone reported that this letter was contemptuous of the world and resentful, Cao Cao was angry, saying that 'merely' (er) was not a good word and that 'there is bound to be a time of change' was disrespectful in intent, and he made Cui Yan a convict laborer and had men watch him. Cui Yan did not bend in the least in word or expression. Cao Cao said that even after being punished Cui Yan received guests so that his gate was like a market, and that when he faced his guests he bristled his curly beard and stared straight ahead as though angry about something, and in the end he ordered him to die. Records, Wei 12 §14–15

Chen Shou wrote that Cao Cao, being jealous by nature, killed Kong Rong, Xu You and Lou Gui on the grounds that they relied on old ties and were not respectful, but that among them it was Cui Yan's death that the world most lamented and still regards as unjust even now. After Cui Yan died, Mao Jie, who was inwardly displeased about it, was also denounced and imprisoned. Records, Wei 12 §19 · 27

In his assessment Chen Shou said that Cui Yan's lofty character was the most excellent and that Bao Xun upheld rectitude without flaw, but that neither could keep himself whole, which was a pity. Records, Wei 12 §99