Xie Xuan

Also known as Zi Youdu

Xie Xuan, courtesy name Youdu, came from Yangxia in Chen commandery and was a nephew of Xie An. Asked as a youth why elders wanted their sons to excel, he answered that it was like wanting orchids and jade trees to grow in one's own courtyard. With Former Qin pressing south in 377, Xie An had him appointed inspector of Yanzhou at Guangling, where he recruited hardy fighters such as Liu Laozhi into the Northern Garrison army. When Fu Jian invaded in 383, he led the vanguard with Xie Shi and routed the Qin army at the Fei River, for which he was made Duke of Kangle. He then pushed north as far as Pengcheng, until illness made him ask to be relieved and he became governor of Kuaiji. He died in 388 at forty-six and was posthumously named general of chariots and cavalry, with the name Xianwu. His grandson, the poet Xie Lingyun, inherited the dukedom.