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Origin of Xie 謝 (traditional) / 谢 (simplified),
King Xuan of Zhou (827–781 BC) of the Western Zhou Dynasty granted the area Xie Ying (谢营)，Nanyang (南阳), Henan province, to his mother's family and the descendants of Shen Bo (his uncle). Shen Bo then adopted the place name Xie as their surname. The taking of the surname Xie was blessed by King Xuan of Zhou as a gesture 'to thank' in reciprocation of his upbringing by his mother and uncle.
During the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties period, the Yuan (袁) clan of the Chen (陳) state established extensive marriage alliances with the major clans Wang (王), Xiao (萧), and especially the Xie, whose ancestral lands were in the same commandery of Chen.
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It is estimated that there are about 2 million people with this surname, with most of them living in southern China. The spelling of the same Chinese character using Wade-Giles romanization is Hsieh. The spelling "Hsieh" is most commonly used in Taiwan and in older romanizations. "Hsieh" tends to be incorrectly pronounced as "Shay" by those attempting to read it using English orthography. However, other variations are pronounced "Sh'eh" and the spelling is sometimes modified as Shieh. The Cantonese spelling of the same Chinese character is Tse or Tze and the Taishanese spelling of the same Chinese character is Dea, Der, Dare, or Dear. The Minnan (Hokkien) and Teochew spelling of the same Chinese character is Chia, Cheah, or Sia. The Vietnamese version of the same Chinese character is Tạ. In Malaysia and Singapore, the name is sometimes spelled Cheah, Seah or Chia. In the United States, the name is sometimes spelled as Zia. In the Philippines, the name is also spelled as Sese (which also means thank you in Kapampangan, a local dialect in Pampanga, Philippines where the first Xie/Sese settled). In Indonesia, the name is also spelt as Tjhia or Tjia. In East Timor, as a legacy of Portguese colonialism and lingua franca, Xie is also produced as Tchia ,Tchea , Tsia, Tcha and Tjea. Other variations of the surname include Shea and Shei.
The greater majority of Xie members are also members of the Hakka subgroup of the greater Han ethnicity.