Xie
Xie 謝 (traditional) / 谢 (simplified) is a Chinese family name; it is estimated that there are about 2 million people with this surname, with most of them living in southern China. The spelling of the same Chinese character in Taiwan is Hsieh or Shieh. "Hsieh" is pronounced "Sh'eh" because of its spelling. The Cantonese spelling of the same Chinese character is Tse or Tze. The Minnan (Hokkien) and Teochew spelling of the same Chinese character is Chia or Sia. The Vietnamese version of the same Chinese character is Ta. In Malaysia, the name is sometimes spelled Cheah, Seah or Chia. In the United States, the name is sometimes spelled as Zia. In the Philippines, the name is also spelt as Sese. In Indonesia, the name is also spelt as Tjhia or Tjia.
The name was a prominent aristocratic family name in the Jin Dynasty of China. When used as a verb, "xie" means to express gratitude and to thank. When used as a noun, it means gratitude and thanks.
Origin and history of Xie
Located somewhere in present-day Henan province. King Xuan of Zhou (827 – 781 BC) of the Western Zhou Dynasty granted this area to his mother's family and the descendants of Shen Bo (his uncle) adopted the place name Xie as their surname. Xie means 'to thank'.
During the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties period, the Yuan (袁) clan of the Chen (陳) state established extensive marriage alliances with the major clans Wang (王), Xiao (萧), and especially the Xie, whose ancestral lands were in the same commandery of Chen.
Chen Youliang, a fisherman from the Ming Dynasty was originally from the Xie clan, but his ancestors married into the Chen family and adopted the Chen surname because they only had daughters and no sons to carry on the family line.
Famous people with the surname Xie
- Xie An (320 – 385), Chinese statesman and prime minister of the Jin Dynasty
- Xie Jun (*1970), Chinese chess champion
- Xie Shiguang (1917 – 2005), Chinese Catholic Bishop
- Helen Zia (*1952), Chinese-American writer and feminist
- Empress Xie Fanjing (謝梵境) was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song.
- Xie He (謝赫), Chinese writer, art historian and critic in the 6th century.
- Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒), Hong Kong based singer and actor
- Patrick Tse (謝賢), Actor, producer, screenwriter and director in Hong Kong cinema.
- Beau Sia (謝福源), Chinese-American slam poet.
- Xie Jinyuan (謝晉元), Commander of the Defense of Sihang Warehouse in the National Revolutionary Army of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
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