After more than 2 years, the author has studied the history of the Cui family of Boling Cui in Anping County, Hebei Province, Cui Shi in northern Sichuan Province and Cui Jialiang Cui family in Chanjiayan Town, Ningqiang County (Cuijiagou), which can be traced back to the ancestor of Cui Jizi in the Western Zhou Dynasty of China, and also found that our family was a descendant of the famous family of the northern Hao clan in the Sui and Tang dynasties - Boling Cui (now in Anping County, Hebei Province).
The approximate migration process is: in the last years of the Tang Dynasty, due to the historical reasons of the social class of the "gate lord clan", the ancestors gradually moved south from the north in the late Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, and settled in the Huguang area (now Xiaogan, Hubei), and moved to "Long'an" in northern Sichuan during the Ming Dynasty, and then moved from "Long'an" to Cuijiagou (Fangjiayan) of Maoba River in Ningqiang County, southern Shaanxi Province - Cuijialiang of Chanjiayan to live until now.
According to the excavation and statistics of the relevant ** departments of Anping County, Hebei Province (the birthplace of the Boling Cui clan) on the local characters and "famous families":
From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty for more than 1,000 years, the Boling Cui clan continued to show eunuchs, and there were many celebrities with lofty ideals. There are 84 people who have been recorded, and 55 of them are above the fifth grade. Tired of the Tang Dynasty, there were 27 people who were prime ministers, and more than 400 people were above the five grades of the government and the opposition." However, since the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern Cui descendants are not as good as the previous dynasties and have been forgotten by history, why did the former northern wealthy nobles collapse and fall in the red dust of history?
Therefore, this paper analyzes and studies the political system change, class rule, and the history and human nature of the ancestors in the pre-dynastic era, and it seems that we can also find some reasons for the decline of the descendants of the Cui family in the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and modern times.
1. The Boling Cui clan
The Shi clan, also known as the Shi clan, is a class of scholars and doctors who have been officials for generations in the history of our country from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, and is an aristocratic bureaucratic family. They own a large amount of land, and their clans are located in vast rural areas. And have local power, and then participate in national politics, and have the most power. When there is something going on in the local area, the scholars use their power to maintain their clan power. **When there are changes, the clan and landlord status of the Shi clan in the local area still continues.
Because the Boling Cui family has always maintained the good tradition of "lecturing scriptures and emphasizing Confucianism" in the Han Dynasty, whether it is social status, economic strength, class relations, and people's livelihood prestige, it ranked among the top in the country in the Sui and Tang dynasties - the standard place is rich and strong, the status is prominent, and the wealthy nobles. Therefore, it is also known as one of the most famous "five surnames and seven hopes" in history - the Boling Cui family.
"Five surnames and seven wangs" is also called five surnames and seven families, they are from Longxi Li (Tang Dynasty emperor family), Zhao County Li family, Boling Cui family, Qinghe Cui family, Fanyang Lu family, Xingyang Zheng family and Taiyuan Wang family, of which Li family and Cui family each have two county wang. At that time, as long as it was a surname, these five noble surnames, they enjoyed the privileges of a top wealthy family, and even if they were not educated, they could still enter the court as an official.
2. The social status of the scholars
The status of "five surnames and seven hopes" is very high. At that time, the wealthy family talked about had to be the "five surnames and seven hopes" clan, and even the royal family had to give way. Why does "five surnames and seven hopes" have such a big confidence to be so arrogant? At that time, there was a saying: "It is better to marry a woman with five surnames than to enter the royal gate". That is to say, the man at that time would rather marry the daughter of the five big surnames than be the master of the horse.
Legend 1: When Tang Wenzong selected a concubine for Li Yong, the prince of Zhuang Ke, the daughters of the ministers of the court entered the selection list, and the court was in turmoil inside and outside the court. When Tang Wenzong learned about it, he said to Prime Minister Zheng Qin:
I want to ask for the prince to marry a polite woman of your Xingyang Zheng clan as a wife, I heard that the ministers outside do not want to be relatives with me, and I am also a scholar for hundreds of years, why is this? ”
Tang Wenzong then gave up the plan to choose a concubine, but soon Zheng Qin married his granddaughter to Cui Gao, who was from the "Gate Lords Clan". Tang Wenzong said helplessly: "When people conclude marriages, they don't care about official qualities but advocate families. My family has been the Son of Heaven for 200 years, is it not as good as the Cui family and the Lu family? ”
From this story, Li Tang's hundreds of years of the Son of Heaven portal is not as good as Cui Gao of the Shanglord clan Jiupin Weizuo, and it can be imagined that the gap between the social values of the two in the minds of the "Gatelord Clan" in the Tang Dynasty is not as good as Cui Gao. It is said that the reason for this is that the Li Tang royal family came from the Guanlong Hu and Han groups (Han people who intermarried with Hu and Han), which was very different from the family law of the "gate lord clan" in the northern Central Plains - with ritual law - as the door style. Even though Li Tang has a deep degree of sinicization, he is still dwarfed by and admired more and more compared with the "Gate Valve Clan". Even if you are the Son of Heaven, you can't defeat the descendants of the "Gate Lords Clan". This further shows that the self-high standards of the "gate valve clan" are not without reason.
Legend 2: There was a famous prime minister Xue Yuanchao in the Tang Dynasty, who was born in the Xue family in Hedong and was also a wealthy family in the Tang Dynasty, and he was also the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. In his later years, he was haunted because he couldn't marry a woman from the "five surnames and seven hopes" as his wife, which shows that the daughter of the "five surnames and seven hopes" was coveted by everyone in the dynasty at that time, and it was impossible to marry.
Scholars in the Tang Dynasty had three highest aspirations: to be admitted to the Jinshi, to marry the daughter of the "five surnames and seven hopes", and to enter the Beibi Mountain (now Luoyang Beibi Mountain). In order to preserve the family property and status from generation to generation, the "Five Surnames and Seven Wangs" Dashi clan stipulated that women with five surnames could not intermarry with outsiders, and the royal family was no exception. The concept of internal marriage is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the gap between the Shishu and the cold is extremely deep, relying on mutual marriage, the relationship is naturally intertwined, but it is also relatively stable.
As a result, the status of "five surnames and seven hopes" became more and more stable, and over time it reached the peak of society. The "Five Surnames and Seven Hopes" family generally believes that the knowledge and cultivation of the children of the wealthy families of the scholars are accumulated over the years, and they have been influenced by the family environment since childhood. And the royal family is just a nouveau riche, and they have no cultural heritage, so they disdain to enter the palace.
3. The confidence and capital of the scholars
The fundamental confidence of "five surnames and seven hopes" comes from talents, who believe that they are born in a famous family and monopolize cultural and educational resources, so they can stabilize their position. No matter how turbulent the world is, whoever is the emperor needs courtiers to assist. Therefore, they pay attention to "lecturing and learning, respecting Confucianism", it can be said that the highest etiquette and top culture in the current dynasty are all from the family of the gate lords, they control the general environment of one side, and they are naturally the overlord of one side. In addition, although the Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system, the imperial examination system was not well promoted and developed, because the Jiupin Zhongzheng system and the inspection system before the imperial examination system were all controlled and controlled by the family.
At the same time, the "five surnames and seven hopes" family has the privilege of "Zhantianyin customization", that is, the official position protects three generations of relatives, and in ancient times, as long as the ordinary people can eat their stomachs, everything is already fine, so it was difficult to produce a noble son from a poor family at that time. In the bureaucratic group, almost all of the people who make decisions for politics are from the children of various families, and taking the power of the court is equivalent to setting up the emperor, which is the capital of "five surnames and seven hopes".
However, with the continuous improvement of the imperial examination system, it has gradually become the mainstream promotion channel for scholars, especially when ordinary low-level poor families have promotion opportunities, it has become more and more important, and it has also been recognized by the whole society. In order to maintain the status of the family, the children of the big families were not far behind, so they began to take the imperial examination as officials. Because the "five surnames and seven hopes" rely on their own strong background to provide the best quality educational resources for the children of the family, the family can still break into the political center and occupy a place in the court, according to historical records, the Tang Dynasty served as the prime minister, from the scholars There are 79 people, including more than dozens of descendants of the Boling Cui family.
Fourth, the decline of the gate lord clan
According to relevant historical records, Tang Taizong once ordered Gao Shilian to revise the "Clan Chronicles", but in the first draft, Gao ranked the Boling Cui clan (previously under the jurisdiction of Shandong) in the "Shandong Shi Clan" as the first in the world. Taizong was furious and very dissatisfied. Later, the "Chronicles of the Clans" listed the royal family as the first class, the queen's eldest grandson was the second class, and the Shandong surnames were the third class. Although it elevated the imperial family, it also suppressed the "Shi clan" and the "Boling Cui clan".
Since then, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty has revised the "Clan Chronicles" several times, and its main purpose is to focus on cracking down on the "five surnames and seven hopes" family. But there are policies and countermeasures, even if the Son of Heaven is displeased, his ministers are still proud of marrying with the "Five Surnames and Seven Hopes" family, and have repeatedly challenged Tianwei.
In the Tang Gaozong period, it was explicitly forbidden in the name of the imperial court to marry "five surnames and seven hopes", and children born with seven surnames could not intermarry each other. That is, "Longxi Li family, Taiyuan Wang family, Xingyang Zheng family, Fanyang Lu family, Qinghe Cui family, Boling Cui family, Zhaojun Li family". However, it is common for these seven families to intermarry with each other. Although the Holy Authority has issued a decree prohibiting intermarriage, it is actually counterproductive, and the decayed noble clan has begun to unite and try to consolidate their position.
In addition, although the imperial examination system originated in the Sui Dynasty, it was in the Tang Dynasty that the imperial examination was vigorously promoted, and there were even martial champions at that time, whose purpose was to use the imperial examination to select the children of the poor family and confront the scholars. Therefore, the Bolingcui clan also made corresponding "contributions" to the advancement of the imperial examination system. However, the origin of "five surnames and seven hopes" came from the Han Dynasty, and after hundreds of years of precipitation and accumulation, the actions of the Tang Dynasty still could not pose a substantial threat to the scholars.
Until the late Tang Dynasty, in the rebellion of Huangchao (the leader of the peasant uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty), because Huangchao himself came from the bottom of the society and hated the scholars, a large number of scholars were killed. According to historical records, when Huang Chao attacked and entered Chang'an, he heard that there were many ** warriors in Chang'an City, and he was even more determined to kill these warriors and **, leaving no armor behind.
According to historical records, in the last years of Emperor Tang Ai, Zhu Wen usurped the ruling power of the Tang Dynasty, and Zhu Wen's subordinate Wufu Li Zhen suggested killing the previous dynasty**, saying: "This generation calls itself a clear stream, and it is advisable to throw it into the Yellow River, and it will always be a turbid current", Zhu Wen laughed and followed. So in Huazhou (now Huaxian County, Henan), the White Horse Post killed more than 100 nobles and ministers of the former dynasty and threw them into the Yellow River, and at the same time scandalized the scholars in every way. This is the famous "White Horse Station" in history, also known as the "White Horse Disaster".
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were still the political pattern of the late Tang Dynasty, and the rulers of each regime were light on literati and heavy on military people, and their resources were concentrated in the military, and most of the official positions were held by military generals, which led to serious interference in politics by military people, continuous rebellion and war, and rapid change of regime.
Therefore, under such a social environment, people no longer respect the clan of the Tang Dynasty, nor are they eager to marry with the clan, and they are generally disgusted with the so-called clans. The rich homes and industries of the Shi clan were destroyed, the proud genealogy of the Guan Ji was lost, important people died, and the rest of the clan fled to various places.
From then on, the hundred-year-old gentry completely declined, no longer distinguishing from the common people, and their status was replaced by the squire landlord class. The descendants of the scattered scholars have become different families, forgetting their common heritage. According to the records of Wang Qingming of the Northern Song Dynasty, the 36 most prominent families in the Song Dynasty, the new Baume & Mercier Group, no longer have the previous "five surnames and seven hopes" wealthy families. The former "wealthy family" no longer exists, disappearing in the sea of people overnight, and the history of "five surnames and seven hopes" has since declined in the long river of history.
5. The fate of the descendants of the Hao family
Later, some scholars believed that the "scholars" were a cancer, and the Huangchao uprising made an important contribution to eradicating the class cancer in China for nearly 1,000 years. Although the author's distant ancestor is a typical "scholar family", this is also a class product of the social era of the first dynasty, and it is also an inevitable product of historical development, and its formation and disappearance process are the objective choices of the historical era. From the point of view of social development and progress:
The existence of the scholar clan affected the inequality and injustice of the current society to a certain extent. Because the politics and ** in the current dynasty were monopolized by the scholars, they could do whatever they wanted, giving full play to multiple aspects of human nature, and hindering the fairness and justice of the current dynasty. Even not taking the rule of the emperor and monarch into account is invisibly detrimental to the stability and development of the current dynasty's politics.
In the long run, "the scholar clan is no longer the scholar clan, and the family is not the clan", so the suppression of the imperial court and the dissatisfaction of the people are the ultimate social sentiment of the clan of the gate lord, and the decline of the "scholar clan" family in the long river of history is also an inevitable objective historical result.
In order to avoid harm, retain the bloodline, survive and develop, the author's distant ancestors had to turn the red dust, live in the world, and migrate frequently, which is the forced and helpless of history, and it is also the final destination of the scholars. For this reason, our clan, which originated from the north, is a descendant of the Boling Cui clan - and naturally became a declining scholar clan and settled in "Xiaogan County, Hanyang Prefecture, Hubei" during the Ming Dynasty. Later, with the historical trend of "Huguang filling Sichuan", he moved from Hubei to "Long'an" in Sichuan, and then moved to Ningqiang (Cuijiagou and Cuijialiang) in southern Shaanxi during the Qing Dynasty to live until now.
This is the end of this article. As a descendant of the Boling Cui clan, through the study of our clan.
The migration process and history, expressing all kinds of admiration and admiration for the glory and glory of the distant ancestors, the heart has been surging for a long time, just like a movie in the mind of the whole process of the change of dynasties in the history of the dynasty, it is full of human greed and selfishness, full of light and duke, full of ruthlessness and cruelty.
Finally, I officially end the content of this article with the poems of the poets of Boling Cui, who were admired by Li Baidu with "2 inscriptions and 2 poems", and thank them for their talents and leaving famous stories for future generations.
Inscription 1: "Motto".
Eastern Han Dynasty Cui Ming.
There is no way to say that people are short, and there is no way to say that they are long. Be careful not to read what you give, and don't forget to be careful when you receive it.
The reputation of the world is not enough to admire, and benevolence is the discipline. Hide your heart and then move, what is the harm in slandering mediocrity?
There is no name to be true, and the sanctuary of foolishness is guarded. In Nirvana, there is no light.
Weak people, the old ring is strong. The line is despicable, and it is difficult to measure.
Be cautious and eat modestly, and contentment is better than ominous. The line is constant, and it is fragrant for a long time.
Ming 2: "The Burrow".
The mountain is not high, and there is a fairy name. The water is not deep, and if there is a dragon, it will be spiritual.
Si is a burrow, but Wu Dexin. The moss marks are green, and the grass is green.
There is a lot of talk and laughter, and there is no white ding.
You can tune the piano and read the Golden Sutra.
There is no silk and bamboo, and there is no case.
Nanyang Zhuge Lu, Xishu Ziyun Pavilion, Confucius Yun: What is ugly?
Note: Everyone knows that "The Burrow" is an inscription written by the Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi. However, since the Song Dynasty, scholars have been questioning the author of the Burrow.
The Northern Song Dynasty Shi Zhiyuan's "Idle Living Edition" pointed out: "The popular legend "Burrow Ming" is said to be written by Liu Yuxi, which is fallacious! "Idle Residence Edition" was written in the ninth year of Song Zhenzong Dazhong Xiangfu (1016), at that time, "Burrow Inscription" has been widely spread in the world, according to the "Idle Residence Edition": "The ambiguous person is often engraved in Wanyan, hanging on the wall of the house." This made Zhiyuan very unhappy and decided to identify the fake. He decided that "The Burrow" was a forgery under the name of Liu Yuxi.
Some scholars also believe that the author of "The Burrow" should be Cui Wei of the Tang Dynasty. According to the "New Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Cui Wei": "(Chu) thrifty and self-sustaining, Lu Yu scattered the clan, did not govern the house, and tried to make the "Burrow Ming" to see the ambition".
In short, the era of no copyright is the core reason for the controversy, poem 1: "Yellow Crane Tower".
Don Choi. In the past, people have taken the yellow crane to go, and the yellow crane tower is vacant here.
The yellow crane is gone, and the white clouds are empty for thousands of years.
Qingchuan calendar Hanyang tree, fragrant grass and parrot island.
Where is Sunset Township? The Yanbo River makes people sad.
Poem 2: "The Title of the Capital City Nanzhuang".
Don Choihu. Last year, in this door today, the peach blossoms on the faces of the people were red.
The face of the person does not know where to go, and the peach blossoms are still smiling in the spring breeze.
Note: The main references in this book include Zizhi Tongjian, Old Tang Book, New Tang Book, as well as historical books of the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the local materials of Anping County of Boling Cuishi.