Cui Xuanwei (Chinese: 崔玄暐; 638–706), né Cui Ye (崔曄), posthumous name Prince Wenxian of Boling (博陵文獻王),[1] was an official of China's Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong.
A month later, Wu Zetian summoned him and told him, "Since your office was changed, I heard that the officials often feasted because they could now again be corrupt.
In 704, when Cui was still serving as deputy minister of civil service affairs, he was given the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor de facto.
She did, however, approve a petition jointly submitted by him and Li Jiao and supported by Huan Yanfan that the people who were found guilty and executed due to accusations by her secret police officials (such as Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen) early in her reign be posthumously restored to honor.
Cui Xuanwei, along with Zhang Jianzhi, Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, and Yuan Shuji, were recognized as leaders in Emperor Zhongzong's restoration, and they were put into key positions and created dukes, with Cui becoming Neishi (內史), the head of the legislative bureau and one of the posts considered one for a chancellor, and carrying the title of Duke of Boling.
In spring 706, with all five of the coup leaders already out of the capital, Wu Sansi and Empress Wei made accusations against them, and they were demoted to more remote prefectures—in Cui's case, to be the prefect of Jun Prefecture (均州, roughly modern Shiyan, Hubei).
The five were further demoted with the provisions that they would never be allowed to return to the capital Chang'an, with Cui becoming the military advisor to the prefect of Bai Prefecture (白州, roughly modern Yulin, Guangxi).
Emperor Zhongzong, citing that the five had been previously awarded iron certificates that guaranteed that they would not be executed in recognition of their contribution, ordered that they be reduced to commoner rank and permanently exiled to the Lingnan region with their families—in Cui's case, to Gu Prefecture (古州, roughly modern Lạng Sơn Province, Vietnam).