Xie Shouchang (; 19 November 1897 – 22 December 1971) known by his

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Xie Guansheng () was a Chinese jurist who served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1937 to 1948. After the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan, Xie was President of the Judicial Yuan from 1958 to 1971.

Career

Xie was born in

Shengxian Shengzhou (), formerly Shengxian or Sheng County, is a county-level city in central Zhejiang, south of the Hangzhou Bay, and is the south-eastern part of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing. It is about 1.5 hours drive from the provincial ca ...

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 ...

. His grandfather, Xie Tingjun, was a businessman, and his father, Xie Kuang, a scholar. Upon graduating from primary school in 1910, Xie Guansheng was admitted to

Hangzhou High School Hangzhou High School (), or Hanggao, established in 1899, is one of the most famous high schools in Southern China. It was the earliest-founded public high school in Zhejiang Province. Its history dates back to Yangzheng College founded by Lin Qi ...

. Two years later, Xie transferred to

Xuhui High School Shanghai Xuhui High School (), formerly known as Collège Saint Ignace is a public secondary school in Xuhui, Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populo ...

, where he graduated and later became a teacher. Xie left teaching to join the

Commercial Press The Commercial Press () is the first modern publishing organization in China. The Commercial Press is known for its academic publishing and translation work in humanities and social sciences, as well as the '' Xinhua Dictionary''. History In ...

, where he helped publish the first edition of the ''

Ciyuan The ''Ciyuan'' or ''Tz'u-yüan'' was the first major Chinese dictionary linguistically structured around words (''ci'' ) instead of individual characters (''zi'' ) used to write them. The Commercial Press published the first edition ''Ciyuan'' ...

'', released in 1915. Xie later served as secretary to , who invited him to study law at Aurora University in Shanghai. Xie later furthered his legal education at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, where he earned a doctorate. After returning to China, Xie taught law at

Aurora University Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois, United States. Established in 1893 as a seminary of the Advent Christian Church, the university has been independent since 1971. Approximately 6,200 students are enrolled in t ...

and

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

, among other schools. In 1926, Xie was invited to join the Wuhan-based

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

as a secretary for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. Xie remained in his post after the Nationalist government had been consolidated in Nanjing. Concurrently, he was dean of the law school at

National Central University National Central University (; abbreviated NCU; ) is a public research university based in Taiwan. It was founded in 1902 in Nanjing; initially located in Miaoli after moving to Taiwan, it relocated to Zhongli in 1962 and developed into a com ...

.薛化元，國史館現藏民國人物傳記史料彙編第一輯，1988年 In April 1930, Xie began work for the

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the Republic of China.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It functions as the Constitutional Cour ...

. He moved to the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in October 1934, becoming secretary of the ministry in March 1936. Xie succeeded as justice minister in August 1937. In May 1945, Xie was elected to the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

Central Committee. On April 23, 1947, Xie was appointed to a special committee of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive (government), executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, amended constitution, the head of the Execut ...

. He continued serving as minister of justice until December 1948, when he was named the secretary-general of the Judicial Yuan. Xie retreated to Taiwan with other Nationalist government officials after the Kuomintang lost the

Second Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermittently from 1 August 1927 until Communist victory resulted ...

. In May 1950, he was named Vice President of the Judicial Yuan, serving until March 1958, when he was promoted to President of the Judicial Yuan. Xie died on 22 December 1971 in Taipei, weeks after stepping down as President of the Judicial Yuan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xie, Guansheng 1897 births 1971 deaths Commercial Press people Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Justice ministers of the Republic of China Taiwanese presidents of the Judicial Yuan Taiwanese people from Zhejiang University of Paris alumni Academic staff of Fudan University Academic staff of Nanjing University People from Shengzhou Law school deans Educators from Shaoxing Politicians from Shaoxing Chinese university and college faculty deans