Cui Shi
Cui Shi was born in 671, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Cui Shi's grandfather Cui Renshi briefly served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's father Emperor Taizong, and Cui Shi's father Cui Yi (崔挹) later served as the principal of the imperial university. Cui Shi himself was said to be literarily talented and ambitious in his youth. He passed the imperial examinations in his youth and was made "Zuo Bujue" (左補闕), a low level official at the examination bureau of government (鸞臺, "Luantai"). He participated in the editing of a work known as the "Essence of Pearls from the Three Religions" (三教珠英, "Sanjiao Zhuying") -- a compilation of various poetry about Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—a project headed by Wu Zetian's lovers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong and the imperial scholar Li Jiao. After the work was complete, he was made "Dianzhong Shi Yushi" (殿中侍御史), a low level imperial censor.