Lady Xie was of a noted Kuaiji family and the first wife of

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, the founding emperor of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period of China. Despite her fall from favour and early death, her family would continue to prosper at court.

Life

Lady Xie was from Shanyin County (山陰縣),

Kuaiji Commandery Kuaiji Commandery ( Chinese: t , s , p ''Kuàijī Jùn''), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present-d ...

, which is in present-day

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. She became

's wife on the recommendation of Sun Quan's mother, Lady Wu, tying the Sun's to a noted southern clan. She was favoured by Sun Quan but later Sun Quan wanted to take his cousin Xu Kun's daughter Lady Xu as his new wife, so he told Lady Xie to lower herself to accept the newcomer. However, Lady Xie refused and fell out of Sun Quan's favour as a consequence. She died seemingly soon after at a relatively young age, supposedly of grief.

Family and relatives

Lady Xie's father, Xie Jiong (謝煚) sometimes called Xie Ying (謝嬰) served as a Gentleman of Writing (尚書郎) and the Prefect (令) of Xu County (徐縣) in the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. Xie Jiong was known for his good moral conduct and brilliance since he was young. The material he collected from the imperial archives when serving at the Secretariat in the Han capital may have been used by his son Cheng for his history on the Han. Xie Jiong's younger brother, Xie Zhen (謝貞), was known for being very law-abiding, studious, and morally upright in conduct. He was nominated as a ''

xiaolian Xiaolian (; literally " filial and incorrupt"), was the standard of nominating civil officers started by Emperor Wu of Han in 134 BC. It lasted until its replacement by the imperial examination system during the Sui dynasty. In Confucian philosop ...

'' (civil service candidate) and later served as the Chief (長) of Jianchang County (建昌縣). He died in office. Lady Xie had a younger brother,

Xie Cheng Xie Cheng (182–254), courtesy name Weiping, was an in-law to the warlord, then Emperor of Eastern Wu, Sun Quan. Xie served in Jing province after Sun Quan's conquests there and was a noted historian whose work is still used.''Sanguozhi'' vol. ...

who would later serve at court as an official and a historian more than ten years after her death. Xie Cheng's son, Xie Chong (謝崇), served as General Who Spreads Might (揚威將軍). Xie Chong's younger brother, Xie Xu (謝勗), served as the Administrator (太守) of

Wu Commandery Wu Commandery was a commandery of imperial China. It covers parts of the contemporary Northern Zhejiang and Southern Jiangsu. The capital of Wu commandery was Wu (today's Suzhou). Major counties of Wu commandery include Wu (county), Yuhang county ...

with both gaining renown.(子崇揚威將軍，崇弟勗吳郡太守，並知名。) ''Kuaiji Dianlu'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 50.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms ''Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms'' () by Pei Songzhi (372–451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After the fall of the Eastern Jin ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Xie, Lady Family of Sun Quan People of Eastern Wu

Life

Family and relatives

See also

References