The Xie Family#

Surname: Xie, pronounced as "xiè"

Distribution of the Xie Family#

• Chenliu Commandery: Established during the Qin Dynasty, located in present-day Chenliu City, southeast of Kaifeng. This commandery existed throughout various dynasties and was merged into Kaifeng County in 1957. During the Western Han Dynasty, its administrative center was also in Chenliu County. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was relocated to Xunyi; during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was part of Bianzhou Chenliu Commandery, with its seat still in Chenliu (now Chenliu Town, southeast of Kaifeng County, Henan Province).
• Chen Commandery: Established by the Qin Dynasty. It was part of the Huaiyang Kingdom during the Western Han Dynasty and the Chen Kingdom during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Under Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was renamed Chen Commandery, with its administrative center in Chen County (now Huaiyang, Henan Province). During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was known as Chenzhou Huaiyang Commandery.
• Xiapai Commandery: ① An ancient county name, located in present-day Suining, northwest of Jiangsu Province. During the Jin Dynasty, its center was moved to the ancient town of Xiapi. It was abolished during the Ming Dynasty. ② Another ancient commandery name, established during the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was reorganized into a commandery during the Southern Song Dynasty, with its seat in Xiapi (northwest of Suining, Jiangsu Province), governing parts of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
• Kuiji Commandery: Established by the Qin Dynasty, with its administrative center in Wu County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). Its jurisdiction included most of Jiangnan, parts of Zhejiang, and some areas in southern Anhui.
• Xie's Origins: The Xie surname has multiple origins:
  1. From the Jiang surname: Derived from the descendants of Emperor Yan's descendant, Shen Bo. According to historical records such as "Xing Pu" and "Yuan He Xing Zuan," ancient tribal leader Emperor Yan had a son named Bo Yi, who, along with his brother Shu Qi, defected to the Zhou Dynasty. After King Wu of Zhou launched a campaign against the Shang Dynasty, they fled to Mount Shouyang and refused to eat the Zhou food, leading to their deaths. However, their descendants remained in the Zhou Dynasty. When King Cheng of Zhou ascended the throne, he granted Bo Yi's descendants the title of Marquis of Shen, marking the beginning of the Xie lineage. Their descendants adopted the name of the new capital as their surname, which is considered the authentic origin of the Henan Xie lineage.
  2. From the Ren surname: Descendants of the Yellow Emperor. According to "Zuo Zhuan" and "Gujin Xing Shu Bian Zheng," the Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, one of whom was surnamed Ren. The Xie surname originated from one of these sons.
  3. From other surnames: According to the "Xie Yan Zhuan" in the Tang Dynasty records, there was a person named Xie Yan at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. He was from Weizhou (now Qi County, Henan Province) and performed exceptionally well in an imperial examination under Emperor Taizong of Tang, earning the title of "Direct Scholar of the Hongwen Academy" and later serving as a court official. His ancestors originally had the surname Zhi Le, but changed it to Xie.

Migration and Distribution: The Xie surname originated in Henan. After the fall of the State of Chen to the State of Chu, some Xie people were relocated to the upper and middle reaches of the Huai River. Later, some moved to Jingshan, southeast of Wudang in present-day Hubei Province. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, a branch of the Xie family became prominent in Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province) under the leadership of Xie Yi Wu. Xie Yi Wu's daughter married into the royal family of the State of Sun, making his family related to the imperial clan. During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xie people from Chen Commandery (present-day Taikang, Henan Province) migrated south to the Yangxia area. A branch of the Xie family from the Central Plains became influential in the Cao Wei regime. During the Sui Dynasty, another branch was established in Kuaiji. In the Republic of China, the two branches were merged into the Shaoxing County.

Common Hall Names of the Xie Family**#

• Chenliu Hall: The earliest birthplace of the Xie family, located in present-day Chenliu County, Henan Province.
• Kuiji Hall: The ancestral home of the Xie family during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, also the name of a commandery in the Qin Dynasty, encompassing eastern Jiangsu and western Zhejiang provinces.
• Dongshan Hall: Located in Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province, southwest of Shangyu. This was the retreat of Xie An before he led military campaigns. Remains such as the "Roses Cave" and "Chi Ji Chi" can still be found on the mountain.
• Baoshu Hall: Legend has it that Emperor Xiaowu of Jin visited Xie An's residence and praised a large, lush tree in his courtyard, calling it the "Treasure Tree" of the Xie family.

Common Couplets for Xie Family Ancestral Halls

• [Couplets for the Xie Family Ancestral Hall]
• [Four-character Couplets for the Xie Family Ancestral Hall]
• "The lineage traces back to Shen Bo; the origin is in Luoyi." (Written by an anonymous author, referring to the establishment of the Xie surname in the Zhou Dynasty.)