Cui Qun (崔群) (772 – August 30, 832[1][2]), courtesy name Dunshi (敦詩), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong.
Emperor Xianzong appreciated Cui for his honesty, and in 812, when Cui also carried the title of Kubu Langzhong (庫部郎中), a supervisorial official at the ministry of defense (兵部, Bingbu), he was promoted to be Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau, but continued to serve as imperial scholar as well.
[6] Around the same time, the warlord Tian Ji'an, the military governor (jiedushi) of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), submitted a tribute of silk in the name of assisting with the rebuilding of Kaiye Temple (開業寺).
He was subsequently made the deputy minister of rites (禮部侍郎, Lǐbu Shilang), and in that capacity was said to be fair and proper in his selection of imperial examinees.
[3] In 817, when the chancellor Pei Du left the capital Chang'an to oversee the campaign against the warlord Wu Yuanji, Cui was made Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau, as well as chancellor de facto with the title Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事).
Later that year, when Emperor Xianzong was set to make his close associate Zhang Su (張宿) a high-level consultant, Cui and fellow chancellor Wang Ya opposed, but Emperor Xianzong disagreed with them, only agreeing them when they, as a compromise, had Zhang made an acting consultant.
Also at Cui's urging, the official Quan Changru (權長儒), who had been sentenced to death after receiving bribes but whose mother Lady Liu had made earnest pleas to the chancellors for his life, was exiled and not executed.
At that time, the troops sent to the borders with Tufan were receiving supplies of poor quality and were so displeased that they were on the verge of mutiny—so much so that their commander, the general Li Guangyan, was so distressed to consider suicide.
After Emperor Muzong ended the campaigns against Wang Tingcou and Zhu in 822, Wang Zhixing took the Wuning troops back to Wuning and forcibly entered the headquarters, effectively taking Cui and his staff as hostage, although he still treated them with respect but had them escorted out of the circuit, back to Chang'an, while taking over control of the circuit himself.
In 829, he was made the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), as well as the mayor of its capital Jiangling Municipality.
[10] In 830, he was recalled to Chang'an to serve as acting You Pushe (右僕射), one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng), as well as the minister of worship (太常卿, Taichang Qing).
[2] In 833, he was made acting Zuo Pushe (左僕射), the other head of the executive bureau, as well as the minister of civil service affairs (吏部尚書, Lìbu Shangshu).