Life

From Shanyin County (山阴县), Kuaiji Commandery, which is in present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang. It would take more than a decade after the death of his sister Lady Xie to be appointed at court, when he was made a Gentleman for All Purposes (五官郎中) around 210. After the Sun-Liu territorial dispute in Jing was settled in 215, Xie Cheng was promoted to the positions of Commandant of East Changsha (长沙东部都尉) then after Lü Meng's 219 conquest of Jing, became the Administrator (太守) of Wuling Commandery (武陵郡). Xie Cheng was known for being very well read and for his excellent memory and became a historian, his work including a notable example of the trend in the era for regional histories with his Kuaiji xianxian zhuan (会稽先贤传 Biographies of the Former Worthies of Kuaiji). As part of Wu's claim to being successor of the Han and perhaps drawing on the material collected by his father, he also wrote over 100 volumes of the Hou Han Shu (后汉书), which documented the history of the Eastern Han dynasty, though only fragments survive it is considered by Rafe de Crespigny as an important source on the Later Han.

Family

Cheng's father, Xie Jiong (谢煚) sometimes called Xie Ying (谢婴) served as a Gentleman of Writing (尚书郎) and the Prefect (令) of Xu County (徐县) in the Eastern Han dynasty. Xie Jiong was known for his good moral conduct and brilliance since he was young. The material he collected from the imperial archives when serving at the Secretariat in the Han capital may have been used by Cheng for his history on the Han. Cheng's uncle Xie Zhen (谢贞), was known for being very law-abiding, studious, and morally upright in conduct. He was nominated as a xiaolian (civil service candidate) and later served as the Chief (长) of Jianchang County (建昌县). He died in office.

Xie Cheng's older sister Lady Xie became wife of Sun Quan, the future founding Emperor of Eastern Wu and was initially greatly favoured but when he wished to have a new wife as her superior, she refused and she died young. Despite her death, her family would continue to serve the Sun regime.

Cheng's eldest son Xie Chong (谢崇), served as General Who Spreads Might (扬威将军) and his youngest son, Xie Xu (谢勖), served as the Administrator (太守) of Wu Commandery with both gaining renown.

生平

孙权的夫人之弟。任吴郡督邮。谢夫人卒后，拜五官郎中，后迁长沙东部都尉、武陵郡太守。

谢承博学洽闻，读书终生不忘，尤熟东汉史事，撰《后汉书》143卷，今存辑本；又撰《会稽先贤传》7卷，早佚，《太平御览》多引之，鲁迅辑为1卷。事见《吴志·谢夫人传》。

家族

父辈

谢煚，汉朝尚书郎、徐令。幼年时以仁孝为行，明达有令才。

谢贞，谢煚弟，履蹈法度，笃学尚义，举孝廉，官至建昌长，卒于官。

子

谢崇，扬威将军；谢勖，吴郡太守。