Cui Li (崔立) | 24 Histories

Overview

Cui Li was a rebel and Warlord.

Life and dates

Death

AD 1234 天興三年六月
Assassinated · Killed by Li Boyuan (李伯淵) · At Shuxing Street 梳行街
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passages 129, 132

Attested activity

AD 1233 二年正月
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 18, passage 80
AD 1233 二年正月戊辰
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 18, passage 80
AD 1233 二年正月甲戌
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 18, passage 88
AD 1233 五年癸巳
Dated from the passage context · History of Yuan 2, passage 48
AD 1234 天興三年六月
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 115, passages 125, 132
AD 1233 天興二年正月
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 115, passages 56, 78

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AD 1232 天興元年冬十二月
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 115, passage 212
AD 1232 to AD 1233 崔立之變
Directly stated · History of Jin 130, passage 107
AD 1233 庚寅
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 18, passage 110
AD 1224 正大初
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 115, passage 209
AD 1232 留守
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 38
AD 1233 癸巳
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 18, passage 113

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Kin of Zhe Xiyan (折希顏)
sister's husband 妹婿
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 116
Spouse of Wang Hua'er (王花兒)
wife 妻
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passages 92, 112
Sibling of Cui Kan (侃)
younger brother 弟
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 82
Sibling of Cui Yi (倚)
younger brother 弟
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 82
Sibling of Cui Yi (倚)
younger brother 弟
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 92
Sibling of Cui Kan (侃)
younger brother 弟
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 92
Sibling of Sister of Cui Li (崔立之妹)
younger sister 妹
Strongly inferred · History of Jin 115, passage 116

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Jin western-area commander 金西面元帥
Directly stated · History of Yuan 2, passage 48
western marshal 西面元帥
AD 1232 天興元年冬十二月 · Appointed
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passages 19, 212
commandant of Anping 安平都尉
Appointed
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 211
army-and-horse chief marshal 軍馬都元帥
Assumed
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 81
grand preceptor, overall marshal, director of state affairs 太師軍馬都元帥尚書令
Assumed
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 92
grand preceptor 太師
Assumed
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 81

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minister-in-chief 尚書令
Assumed
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 81
chief marshal 都元帥
Claimed
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 81
left grand councillor 左丞相
Claimed
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 81
Anping commandant and capital western marshal 安平都尉、京城西面元帥
Held
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 80
western outer-city marshal 西面元帥
Held
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 38
Prince of Zheng 鄭王
Assumed
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 92
Prince of Zheng 鄭王
Claimed
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 81
Entered
AD 1233 五年癸巳 · Surrendered Nanjing
Directly stated · History of Yuan 2, passage 48

Places and affiliations

Polity Jin 金 · Relation Served
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passages 38, 80
Polity Jin 金 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · History of Jin 18, passage 110
At Jiangling 將陵
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 208
At Kaifeng 汴 · Relation Active in
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passages 208, 212

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Mode quotation Speaker Cui Li (崔立)
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passages 56, 79, 83, 87

Events and relationships

Forced audience with empress dowager
AD 1233 二年正月戊辰 · Political · Usurper · With Empress Dowager (太后)
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 80
Mutinied
AD 1233 二年正月戊辰 · Rebellion · Leader
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 80
Mutinied
Political · Leader · At Kaifeng 汴
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passages 56, 78
Registered dependents banned weddings confiscated wealth
AD 1233 二年正月甲戌 · Political · De facto ruler
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 88
Remained to hold capital
Military · Capital defender
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passages 38-39
Surrendered to Great Yuan
Diplomatic · Surrendering authority
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 86

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Took Cong Ke, Shou Chun, and over five hundred imperial clansmen to Qingcheng where they were killed
AD 1233 癸巳 · Military · Perpetrator · At Qingcheng 青城
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passage 113
Relation Treated as father · Person Subutai (速不泬)
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 96

Assessments and attributes

Assessment licentious and constantly plotted rebellion · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 213

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · History of Jin 18, passages 80, 110
Placed his family on the western wall so he could flee with them if the coup failed.
Directly stated · History of Jin 115, passage 76

References in the histories

Search passages

History

57 passages

History of Jin, Chapter 18Volume 18 Annals 18: Aizong 2 · 6 passages

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參知政事兼樞密院副使完顏奴申，樞密副使兼知開封府權參知政事習捏阿不，裏城四面都總領、戶部尚書完顏珠顆，外城東面元帥把撒合，南面元帥朮甲咬住，西面元帥崔立，北面元帥孛朮魯買奴等留守。 Wanyan Nushen, participation councillor and privy vice commissioner; Cinie Abu, privy vice commissioner, acting Kaifeng prefect, and acting participation councillor; Wanyan Zhuke, commander of the inner city on all four sides and minister of revenue; Basahao, eastern outer marshal; Zhujia Yaozhu, south; Cui Li, west; Bolulü Mainu, north—they and others held the capital.

戊辰，安平都尉、京城西面元帥崔立與其党韓鐸、藥安國等舉兵為亂，殺參知政事完顏奴申、樞密副使完顏斜撚阿不，勒兵入見太后，傳令召衛王子從恪為梁王，監國。 On wuchen Anping pacification commandant and capital western marshal Cui Li, with Han Duo, Yao Anguo, and their faction, mutinied, killed participation councillor Wanyan Nushen and privy vice marshal Wanyan Xienian Abu, marched in to see the empress dowager, and ordered Prince of Wei Congke installed as Prince of Liang to oversee the realm.

即自為太師、軍馬都元帥、尚書令，尋自稱左丞相、都元帥、尚書令、鄭王。 He at once took grand preceptor, army-and-horse chief marshal, and minister-in-chief; soon he called himself left grand councillor, chief marshal, minister-in-chief, and Prince of Zheng.

甲戌，立閱隨駕官屬軍民子女於省署，及禁民間嫁娶，括京城財。 On jiaxu dependents of the traveling officials and army were enrolled at the ministry, commoners' weddings in the capital were banned, and city wealth was confiscated.

庚寅，陳州都尉李順兒殺行省粘葛奴申及招撫使劉天起，送款于崔立。 On gengyin Chenzhou commandant Li Shun’er killed traveling secretariat Nian Ge Nushen and pacification commissioner Liu Tianqi and surrendered to Cui Li.

癸巳，崔立以梁王從恪、荊王守純及及諸宗室男女五百餘人至青城，皆及於難。 On guisi Cui Li led the Prince of Liang Cong Ke, the Prince of Jing Shou Chun, and over five hundred imperial clansmen to Qingcheng, where all were killed.

History of Jin, Chapter 115Volume 115 Biographies 53: Wanyan Nushen, Cui Li, Li Qi, Nie Tianji, Chizhan Weixin · 41 passages

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又以把撒合為外城東面元帥，術甲咬住南面元帥，崔立西面元帥，孛術魯買奴北面元帥。 He further appointed Basage marshal of the outer city's eastern sector, Shujia Yaozhu marshal of the south, Cui Li marshal of the west, and Boshulu Mainu marshal of the north.

明日戊辰，西面元帥崔立與其党孛術魯長哥、韓鐸、藥安國等為變，率甲卒二百橫刀入省中，拔劍指二相曰：「京城危困已極，二公坐視百姓餓死，恬不為慮，何也？」 The next day, on wuchen day, western marshal Cui Li and his followers Boshulu Changge, Han Duo, Yao Anguo, and others staged a mutiny. Leading two hundred armored soldiers with swords at the ready, they entered the secretariat, drew their blades, and pointed at the two chief ministers: "The capital's plight has reached its limit. You sit by while the people starve to death and show no concern—why?"

立麾其党先殺阿不，次殺奴申及左司郎中納合德輝等，余見《崔立傳》。 Cui Li signaled his men; they killed Abu first, then Nushen and left bureau director Nahe Dehui and others—the rest is recorded in the Biography of Cui Li.

崔立，將陵人，少貧無行，嘗為寺僧負鈸鼓，乘兵亂從上黨公開為都統、提控，積階遙領太原知府。 Cui Li was from Jiangling. In youth he was poor and dissolute; he once carried cymbals and drums for temple monks. When the armies fell into chaos he followed Duke Kai of Shangdang as army marshal and military controller, rising in rank to hold the nominal post of prefect of Taiyuan.

立將為變，潛結納之，安國健啖，日飽之以魚，遂與之謀。 When Cui Li was planning his mutiny, he secretly recruited Anguo, a hearty eater whom he fed daily on fish until they joined in the plot.

二相聞變趨出，立拔劍曰：「京城危困，二公欲如何處之？」 The two chief ministers, hearing the disturbance, rushed out. Cui Li drew his sword and said: "The capital is in desperate straits—what do you two intend to do about it?"

立不顧，麾其党張信之、孛術魯長哥出省，二相遂遇害。 Cui Li paid no heed, signaled his men Zhang Xinzhi and Boshulu Changge, and the two chief ministers were killed.

立還省中，集百官議所立。 Cui Li returned to the secretariat, gathered the officials, and deliberated whom to install as ruler.

立曰：「衛紹王太子從恪，其妹公主在北兵中，可立之。」 Cui Li said: "Prince Congke, son of Emperor Weishao, has a sister the princess held among the northern forces. He should be installed."

立自稱太師、軍馬都元帥、尚書令、鄭王，出入禦乘輿，稱其妻為王妃，弟倚為平章政事，侃為殿前都點檢。 Cui Li styled himself grand preceptor, overall marshal of army and horse, director of the department of state affairs, and prince of Zheng. He rode the imperial carriage, called his wife princess consort, made his younger brother Yi grand councilor, and Kan chief inspector of the palace front.

初，立假安國之勇以濟事，至是複忌之，聞安國納一都尉夫人，數其違約斬之。 At first Cui Li had relied on Anguo's courage for the coup, but now he grew jealous. Learning that Anguo had taken a commandant's wife, he accused him of breaking their pact and had him beheaded.

壬申，速不泬至青城，立服禦衣，儀衛往見之。 On renshen day Subutai reached Qingcheng. Cui Li wore imperial robes and went with full ceremonial guard to meet him.

大帥喜，飲之酒，立以父事之。 The great commander was pleased, offered him wine, and Cui Li treated him with a son's deference.

立托以軍前索隨駕官吏家屬，聚之省中，人自閱之，日亂數人猶若不足。 Cui Li claimed the army needed the families of officials who had accompanied the emperor, gathered them in the secretariat, and examined each in turn. Several people were seized every day, as if that were not enough.

立時與其妻入宮，兩宮賜之不可勝計。 Cui Li and his wife then entered the palace, where the empresses bestowed gifts beyond counting.

立因諷太后作書陳天時人事，遣皇乳母招歸德。 Cui Li induced the empress dowager to write describing the situation and sent the imperial wet nurse to summon the court at Guide.

四月壬辰，立以兩宮、梁王、荊王及諸宗室皆赴青城，甲午北行，立妻王氏備仗衛送兩宮至開陽門。 On renchen day in the fourth month Cui Li sent the empresses, Prince Liang, Prince Jing, and the entire imperial clan to Qingcheng. On jiawu day they departed north. His wife Lady Wang, with full ceremonial guard, escorted the empresses to the Kaiyang Gate.

立時在城外，兵先入其家，取其妻妾寶玉以出，立歸大慟，無如之何。 Cui Li was outside the city at the time. Troops entered his house first, took his wives, concubines, and jewels, and left. When he returned he wept bitterly but could do nothing.

李琦者，山西人，為都尉，在陳州與粘哥奴申同行省事，陳州變，入京，附崔立妹婿折希顏，娶夾谷元之妻，妻年二十余，有姿色，立初拘隨駕官之家屬，妻輿病而往，得免。 Li Qi was from Shanxi and served as a commandant. At Chen Prefecture he worked with Zhange Nushen as acting branch secretariat director. When Chen mutinied he fled to the capital and attached himself to Cui Li's brother-in-law Zhe Xiyan. He married the wife of Jiagu Yuan, a woman of more than twenty renowned for her beauty. When Cui Li first detained the families of officials who had accompanied the emperor, she went in a litter feigning illness and was spared.

琦娶之後，有言其美者，立欲強之。 After Qi married her, word of her beauty reached Cui Li, who wished to take her by force.

琦每見立欲奪人妻，必差其夫遠出，一日差琦出京，琦以妻自隨，如是者再三，立遂欲殺琦。 Whenever Cui Li coveted another man's wife, he sent the husband away on distant duty. One day he sent Qi out of the capital, but Qi took his wife with him. After this happened several times, Cui Li resolved to kill him.

琦又數為折希顏所折辱，乃首建殺立之謀。 Qi had also been repeatedly humiliated by Zhe Xiyan and was the first to propose killing Cui Li.

李伯淵者，寶坻人，本安平都尉司千戶，美姿容，深沉有謀，每憤立不道，欲仗義殺之。 Li Boyuan was from Baodi, originally a chiliarch in the Anping commandant's office. Handsome and deep-thinking, he constantly resented Cui Li's wickedness and wished to kill him in the name of justice.

立初反，以賤奴舊與敵體，頗貌敬之。 When Cui Li first rebelled, because Jianu had formerly held rank equal to the enemy's commanders, he treated him with outward respect.

三年六月甲午，傳近境有宋軍，伯淵等陽與立謀備禦之策。 On jiawu day in the sixth month of the third year, word spread that Song troops were near the border. Boyuan and the others pretended to consult with Cui Li on defensive plans.

翌日晚，伯淵等燒外封丘門以警動立。 The next evening Boyuan and his men burned the outer Fengqiu Gate to alarm Cui Li.

是夜，立殊不安，一夕百臥起。 That night Cui Li was extremely uneasy, rising and lying down a hundred times.

比明，伯淵等身來約立視火，立從苑秀、折希顏數騎往，諭京城民十五以上、七十以下男子皆詣太廟街點集。 At dawn Boyuan and the others came in person to invite Cui Li to inspect the fire. Cui Li went with Yuan Xiu, Zhe Xiyan, and several horsemen and ordered all men in the capital aged fifteen to seventy to assemble on Taimiao Street for roll call.

既還，行及梳行街，伯淵欲送立還二王府，立辭數四，伯淵必欲親送，立不疑，倉卒中就馬上抱立。 On the return, reaching Shuxing Street, Boyuan offered to escort Cui Li back to the Prince of Zheng's mansion. Cui Li declined several times, but Boyuan insisted on escorting him personally. Unsuspecting, Cui Li was embraced on horseback in the sudden move.

立顧曰：「汝欲殺我耶？」 Cui Li looked back and said: "Do you mean to kill me?"

即出匕首橫刺之，洞而中其手之抱立處，再刺之，立墜馬死。 He drew a dagger and stabbed across, piercing through his hand where it held Cui Li. He stabbed again, and Cui Li fell from his horse dead.

折希顏後至不知，見立墜馬，謂與人鬥，欲前解之，隨為軍士所斫，被創走梁門外，追斬之。 Zhe Xiyan arrived later unaware of the plot. Seeing Cui Li fall from his horse, he thought he was fighting someone and tried to intervene. Soldiers hacked him down. Wounded, he fled outside the Liang Gate and was pursued and beheaded.

伯淵系立屍馬尾，至內前號於眾曰：「立殺害劫奪，烝淫暴虐，大逆不道，古今無有，當殺之不？」 Boyuan tied Cui Li's corpse to a horse's tail, came before the inner palace, and shouted to the crowd: "Cui Li murdered, plundered, committed incest, and was violent and tyrannical—treason without parallel in history. Was he not rightly killed?"

乃梟立首，望承天門祭哀宗。 They displayed Cui Li's head on a pole, faced the Gate of Receiving Heaven, and offered sacrifice to Emperor Aizong.

已而有告立匿宮中珍玩，遂籍其家，以其妻王花兒賜丞相鎮海帳下士。 Before long someone reported that Cui Li had hidden palace treasures. His property was inventoried, and his wife Wang Hua'er was given to a soldier under Chancellor Zhenhai.

初，立之變也，前護衛蒲鮮石魯負祖宗禦容五，走蔡。 When Cui Li mutinied, former guard Puxian Shilu carried off five imperial portraits of the ancestors and fled to Cai.

彼撒合掌軍一面，石魯宿衛九重，崔立之變，曾不聞發一矢，束手於人。 Basage commanded one sector of the army and Shilu guarded the palace. At Cui Li's mutiny neither loosed a single arrow and both submitted helplessly.

論曰：崔立納款，使其封府庫、籍人民以俟大朝之命可也。 The discussion says: If Cui Li had offered submission, sealed the treasuries, and registered the people while awaiting the Great Court's orders, that would have been acceptable.

金俘人之主，帝人之臣，百年之後適啟崔立之狂謀，以成青城之烈禍。 The Jin had captured another sovereign and made him their subject-emperor. A century later this opened the way for Cui Li's mad plot and the terrible calamity at Qingcheng.

崔立變，天驥被創甚，臥一十餘日。 At Cui Li's mutiny Tianji was severely wounded and lay abed for more than ten days.

五年，致仕，居汴中，崔立之變明日，召家人付以後事，望睢陽慟哭，以弓弦自縊而死，時年六十三。 In the fifth year he retired and lived in Kaifeng. The day after Cui Li's mutiny he summoned his family, entrusted them with his final affairs, looked toward Suiyang and wept bitterly, then hanged himself with a bowstring. He was sixty-three.

History of Jin, Chapter 130Volume 130 Biographies 68: Exemplary Women: The Wife of A Lin; The Wife of Li Baoxin; The Wife of Han Qingmin; Lei Fu, née Shi; Kang Zhuzhu; The Wife of Li Wen; The Wife of Li Ying; The Wife of Xiang Qi; A Luzhen; The Wife of Sahe Nian; The Wife of Xu Gu; Feng Miaozhen; Lady Pucha; Lady Wugulun; The Wife of Su Lan; The Wife of Mang Ge; Lady Yin; Lady Bai; Nie Xiaonü; The Wife of Zhong De; Lady Li of Baofu; Zhang Fengnu · 8 passages

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崔立之變，驅從官妻子于省中，人自閱之。 During Cui Li's mutiny, the wives and children of court officials were herded into the provincial compound so that each man could pick among them.

蒲察氏聞，以幼子付婢僕，且與之金幣，親具衣棺祭物，與家人訣曰：「崔立不道，強人妻女，兵在城下，吾何所逃，惟一死不負吾夫耳。 When she heard, she entrusted her young son to the servants with gold and coins, prepared her own burial garments and offerings, and bade her household farewell: "Cui Li is a villain who seizes men's wives and daughters; with the enemy at the walls I have nowhere to flee. Only by dying can I keep faith with my husband.

崔立之變，衣冠家婦女多為所汙，烏古論氏謂家人曰：「吾夫不辱朝廷，我敢辱吾兄及吾夫乎。」 During Cui Li's mutiny many women of respectable families were violated. Lady Wugulun told her household, "My husband did not shame the court—how could I shame my brother and my husband?"

當崔立之變，謂所親曰：「吾夫有天下重名，吾豈肯隨眾陷身以辱吾夫乎。 When Cui Li's mutiny broke out, she told those close to her, "My husband's name stands high throughout the realm—how could I follow the crowd into ruin and shame him?

及崔立之變，忙哥義不受辱，與其妻訣。 When Cui Li's mutiny erupted, Mang Ge refused to submit to shame and bade his wife farewell.

崔立劫殺宰相，天驥被創甚，日夜悲泣，恨不即死。 Cui Li seized and murdered the chief councilor; Tianji was gravely wounded, wept day and night, and wished only that he might die.

時京城圍久食盡，閭巷間有嫁妻易一飽者，重以崔立之變，剽奪暴淩，無複人理。 The capital had been besieged so long that food was gone; in the streets men sold their wives for a single meal. With Cui Li's mutiny came plunder and violence until human decency itself seemed lost.

崔立之變，妻自毀其容服，攜妾及二子紿以采蔬，自汴走蔡。 During Cui Li's mutiny she disfigured her face and clothing, took a concubine and her two sons, disguised herself as a vegetable gatherer, and fled from Bian to Cai.

History of Yuan, Chapter 2Volume 2 Annals 2: Taizong, Dingzong · 2 passages

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戊辰，金西面元帥崔立殺留守完顏奴申、完顏習捏阿不，以南京降。 On wuchen day Cui Li, Jin's western-area commander, killed the garrison commanders Wanyan Nushen and Wanyan Xinie'abu and surrendered Nanjing.

夏四月，速不台進至青城，崔立以金太后王氏、後徒單氏及梁王從恪、荊王守純等至軍中，速不台遣送行在，遂入南京。 In the fourth month of summer Subutai advanced to Qingcheng. Cui Li sent the Jin empress dowager Lady Wang, the empress of the Tuo'anshi clan, Prince Liang Congke, Prince Jing Shouchun, and others to the army. Subutai sent them on to the Emperor and then entered Nanjing.