Xie Clan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Xie Clan (谢家)
Alias(es)	Rongyang Xie Clan 246
Affiliation	Great Qi; one of the Nine Great Surnames, with longstanding influence over the court 245
Occupation/Role	Aristocratic clan of military, scholarly, and political influence
Seat	Xie Manor / Marquis Dingyuan Estate, Bianjing 245 418
Status	Destroyed; Xie Manor was reduced to burning ruins, and the clan later ceased to exist 476 483
First Appearance	245

Background / History

The clan's ancestral home was in Great Qi's Jiangnan Circuit; it was later known as the Rongyang Xie Clan. During the Four States period, it had already been a prominent Great Qing house and had once produced an official of Three Excellencies rank, though that ancestor's identity was no longer recorded. The family later declined into a minor household. 246 255

Its recovery began when an ancestor of notable appearance married into a powerful provincial family. Several succeeding generations won military merit for Great Qi, and after four or five generations of accumulation, the Xies again stood among the realm's foremost clans. 255

During Emperor Xianhe's time as crown prince, the Xie Clan supported his ambitions to restore imperial authority. After his accession, the emperor's attempted palace coup—planned with the Zhu and Wang clans—was exposed, prompting a bloody purge led by the empress dowager, Chancellor Su Jing, and allied great houses. The Xies endured the upheaval and later emerged as one of Great Qi's Nine Great Surnames. 245 436

The clan's prestige reached new heights through Xie Ling, Marquis Dingyuan, and Xie Hong, the second master. Their reputations led contemporaries to call them the “twin jades” or “twin walls” of the Xie Clan. 421 435 Xie Ling's defeat in a border war against Great Sui later damaged the clan's standing and left him assigned away from the capital. 261 262

Xie Manor

Xie Manor was a vast, tightly regulated aristocratic estate. Its principal residence belonged to Xie Ling's line, while Xie Hong's second branch maintained the secluded Waiting for Spring Tower across the lake north of Grand View Garden. 247 409

• Main household — The clan's legitimate heirs received private kitchens, constant meals, servants, and the full privileges of a great house. 246
• Grand View Garden — The manor complex contained Crane Pine Hall, the old matriarch's strictly restricted residence and the site of major clan hearings. 432
• Waiting for Spring Tower — Xie Hong's quiet lakeside courtyard, accessible by boat and bamboo path; ordinary clan members were barred from approaching it. 409
• Clan security — The manor retained numerous upper-three-realm martial artists and Divine Fire Primordial Spirit cultivators, demonstrating foundations comparable to the Zhuge and Zhao clans. 436
• Household law — Clan rules treated acts such as harming kin, defying elders, or violating household authority as grounds for expulsion from the genealogy, crippling punishment, and lashes. 432

Despite having risen through military merit, the household forbade unauthorized martial training by its members and used that rule against Xie Guan. 434

Internal Structure

Branch / position	Known figure	Notes
Main estate	Xie Ling	Marquis Dingyuan; military commander and father of Xie Guan. His line formed the clan's principal household. 245 247
Second branch	Xie Hong	Second master of Xie Manor; a first-rank presented scholar, accomplished official, and Divine Fire soul cultivator. 247 271
Clan elder	Old Matriarch Xie	Granted Xie Guan his name and entered him into the genealogy; later presided over the hearing intended to punish him. 245 432
Main-courtyard mistress	Madam Yuan	Xie Guan's legal “honored mother”; participated in enforcing clan rules but also defended him against accusations that he had struck first. 432 434
Second-courtyard mistress	Madam Zhao	Xie Hong's lawful wife and Xie Renfeng's mother; repeatedly pressed for action against Xie Guan. 409 432
Younger generation	Xie Yuan	Xie Guan's sixth brother; became his close supporter and openly opposed the clan's treatment of him. 262 435
Younger generation	Xie Guan	Xie Ling's illegitimate ninth son; initially ostracized, later recognized beyond the manor for his literary and martial talent. 245 374

Treatment of Xie Guan

Xie Guan and his mother occupied the lowest position within the clan. Though the old matriarch granted him the Xie surname and entered him into the genealogy, the household reduced their food, clothing, and necessities; their small courtyard lacked even a stove, and festival provisions often arrived as leftovers. 245 246

His mother was denied timely education for him because of his birth. After she died, no one from Xie Manor attended her funeral, and she was buried outside Bianjing rather than entered into the clan ancestral temple. 246 247

As Xie Guan's scholarly, calligraphic, and martial ability became impossible to ignore, opinion within the clan split:

• Xie Hong sent him a personal copybook and acknowledged him as his successor in calligraphy. 301
• Xie Yuan supported him publicly, offered to conceal his private martial training, and defied the old matriarch during the clan hearing. 419 435
• Madam Zhao, Xie Renfeng, and allied household members regarded him as a threat and sought to expel him from the genealogy. 367 399
• The old matriarch and Madam Yuan convened a joint hearing after Xie Renfeng's death, intending to erase Xie Guan's name, cripple his cultivation, and administer hundreds of lashes. 432 435

Outside intervention by Zhuge Jian, Zhang Shizai, the Academy, the Eldest Princess, and Mr. East Mountain forced the old matriarch to postpone the punishment. 435 437

Political Position

The Xie Clan was described as the Nine Great Surnames' neutral family, a position tied to Xie Hong's importance and the clan's value to competing court factions. 271

Its neutrality did not prevent factional maneuvering:

• The clan maintained marriage and political ties with the Li Clan, whose members cooperated in the attempt to annul Xie Guan's engagement and disgrace him publicly. 432
• Its connection to the Three Truths Sect drew an investigation by the Suspended Mirror Bureau; Chancellor Su ordered the matter set aside, while Xie Hong was sent to the Academy in what the Nine Great Surnames understood as confinement. 399
• Helan Zhenshu stated that the Xie Clan promised to secure his return to Eternal Heaven if he killed Xie Guan. 431

Destruction

After the clan's internal conflict escalated into open hostility toward Xie Guan, the manor became infested with monstrous beings. Xie Guan left his small courtyard and annihilated those creatures with a single sword strike; scarlet flames consumed the estate's carved beams and painted rafters, while his own small courtyard remained intact within a protective radiance. 476

Seven years later, Xie Qiyue stated that neither the Xie Clan nor the Nine Great Surnames remained. The former estate stood as a charred-black ruin. 483