Cui clan of Qinghe

Cui clan of Qinghe(清河崔氏) is an eminent Chinese family of high rank government officials and Confucian scholars. The clan is originally from the Qinghe Commandery (清河郡). The founder of this clan, according to the new book of Tang, is Cui Ye(崔業), the earl of Donglai(東萊候) of Han dynasty. The Cui of Boling and the Cui of Qinghe had a common ancestor, Cui Ming who lived in the Spring and Autumn period. The Cui of Qinghe also produced Cui Lin. Qinghe also produced Cui Yan. A Cui of Qinghe female wedded Liu Kun. The Liu of Zhongshan, Lu of Luyang and the Qinghe Cui formed a network. The Cui Clan expanded its power over many official positions in Northern Wei era by political interests based mariages and was counted as one of the four clans of northern China. The clan also produced Cui Hao. Cui Hao's cadet branch was executed during the Northern Wei but the rest of the clan survived. In the following dynasties of Sui and Tang, this clan was able to maintain its prosperity by producing a total number of 12 top Chancellors of China.Among the 12 chancellors of this clan, 5 of them are from the ancestry of South. 2 of them are from the elder house. 2 of them are from the junior house while the house of Yanling Xuzhou,the Qingzhou house,and the Cui clan of Zhengzhou each contributed 1 chancellor from their branch. Cuis lost their political privilege by the end of Tang dynasty and dissolved into different social classes. Cui Qun was a member of this clan.

During the Tang dynasty the Li family of Zhaojun 赵郡李氏, the Cui clan of Boling, Cui clan of Qinghe, Lu clan of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang 荥阳郑氏, the Wang family of Taiyuan 太原王氏, and the Li family of Longxi 隴西李氏 were the seven noble families between whom marriage was banned by law. The Cui of Qinghe intermarried with the Ming of Gexian. A woman from the Lu of Fanyang wedded the son of an official of Northern Qi. The Cui Qinghe member Cui Biao's daughter was wedded to the son of Yang Su.