謝萬 (萬石)

Xie Wan 謝萬 (320–361), zi Wanshi 萬石. Eastern Jin literatus.

Xie Wan's ancestral home was Yangjia 陽夏 in Chen 陳 commandery (modern Taikang 太康, Henan). He was a younger brother of the celebrated statesman Xie An 謝安 (320–385). Although he was considered less talented than Xie An, he was acclaimed for his verbal eloquence and writing skills.

Ca. 339, Xie Wan was appointed clerk in the Ministry of Education. He later was assigned to the right western sub-section of the Ministry of Education, but he did not take up the post. In 353, he was invited to participate in the Lan ting gathering hosted by Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303–361). Lan ting was a post station located in the scenic Guiji area of Zhejiang where Sima Yu 司馬昱 (321–372), Prince of Guiji, was serving as General-in-chief of the Pacification Army. Ca. 245 Sima Yu had summoned Xie Wan to serve as his gentleman for attendance. In his first meeting with Sima Yu, Xie wore a white turban and crane-feather cloak. They chatted pleasantly all day long.

Xie Wan was subsequently appointed director of the Ministry of Personnel followed by an assignment (ca. 357) as governor of Wuxing 吳興 (south of modern Wuxing, Zhejiang). In 358, he was assigned as regional inspector of Yuzhou 豫州 (modern north-central Anhui area). He concurrently served as governor of Huainan 淮南 (administrative seat Shouchu 壽春, modern Shou county 壽縣, Anhui).

In November 359, an army of the Former Yan state attacked Dong'e 東阿 (northeast of modern Yanggu 陽谷, Shandong). Xie Wan led the Jin forces that were sent to repel the invaders. He spent most of his time whistling and chanting poems. He treated his officers and men in an imperious manner. His elder brother Xie An, concerned that Xie Wan would be defeated by behaving in this manner, said to him, “You are the commander-in-chief. You should frequently entertain them in order to make them happy.” Xie Wan then summoned his officers together. Pointing at them with his ruyi 如意-scepter, he said: “You generals are all stout foot-soldiers.” [Note, calling them zu 卒 or “foot-soldiers was an insult to generals.] Upon hearing this remark, the officers resented him even more. Some left the battlefield on grounds of illness. Xie Wan's troops eventually crumbled away after a series of defeats. He then ignominiously fled alone to the capital. Xie Wan was soon deprived of all his titles and reduced to commoner status. At that point, he wrote a letter to Wang Xizhi apologizing for his behavior.

In 361, Xie Wan was summoned back to official service as cavalier attendant-in-ordinary. Before he could take up the post, he died. He was forty-two years of age.

The monograph on bibliography of the Sui shu lists Xie Wan's collected writings in sixteen juan. This was lost already in the Tang. Yan Kejun has collected six of his prose pieces in Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen. They include the “Ba xian lun” 八賢論 (Disquisiton on eight worthies), “Chun you fu” 春遊賦 (Fu on a spring excursion), a fragment of a letter to his son Xie Lang 謝朗 and others, “Ba xian song” 八賢頌 (Eulogy to eight worthies), “Qi xian Xi zhongsan zan” 七賢嵇中散贊 (Encomium for Xi Kang of the Seven Worthies), and “Fuma duwei Liu Zhenchang lei” 駙馬都尉劉真長誄 (Dirge for Commandant-escort Liu Zhenchang). The latter piece was written after the passing of Liu Tan 劉惔 (d. 347), who was Xie An's brother-in-law. His only extant poems are the two pieces he composed for the Lan ting gathering in 353. The “Ba xian lun” has not survived. It was an essay in which Xie contrasted four recluses with four men who served in office but met with tragic ends. He matched Qu Yuan with the Fisherman, Jia Yi 賈誼 (ca. 200–168 b.c.e.) with the diviner Sima Jizhu 司馬季主 (fl. 180–170 b.c.e.), Gong Sheng 龔勝 (68 b.c.e.–11 c.e.) with an old man from Chu, and Xi Kang with Sun Deng 孫登 (fl. 260–265).

Bibliography

Studies

• Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Zhongguo wenxuejia dacidian, 444.
• Ding Fulin 丁福林. Dong Jin Nanchao de Xieshi wenxue jituan 東晉南朝的謝氏文學集團, 27–30. Harbin: Heilongjiang jiaoyu chubanshe, 1998.
• Berkowitz, Alan J. Patterns of Disengagement: The Practice and Portrayal of Reclusion in Early Medieval China, 132, 141–43, 162. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000.

TPK