Shieh Family History & Genealogy

Summary

The Shieh (originally spelled Xie) family originated in China, thousands of years ago.  The family has a long and rich history which is detailed below.

History

The Sheih family (originally spelled Xie) is a well known Chinese family with a long and distinguished history, beginning with the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period. The Xie are believed to be the descendants of Yuyang, son of the Yellow Emperor. Yuyang's descendants founded ten states, the State of Xie (谢) first, with its occupants becoming the first Xie.
In gratitude for his mother's upbringing, King Xuan of Zhou (r. 827 – 782 BCE) of the Western Zhou Dynasty, granted the former State of Xie, Xie Ying (谢营)，(modern-day Nanyang (南阳), Henan province) to his maternal uncle Shen Boxi, the Marquess of Shen, whose line claimed descent from the semi-mythological character Bo Yi. The area was renamed the State of Shen, and as a gesture of gratitude to his nephew, Shen Boxi adopted the surname Xie, which means "thanks" or gratitude in general.

By the early Qin dynasty, a branch of the Xie relocated to Yangxia (阳夏), Chen (陈) commandery (modern-day Taikang, Henan), and built a reputation as a noble clan.
In the Eastern Jin dynasty, the Xie were among the cluster of noble clans who fled to the south in the wake of the fall of Chang'an, dominating the court thereafter. During the subsequent 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 also in the commandery of Chen.
By the Yuan dynasty, the Xie had spread across China, and Chen Youliang, a fisherman from the Ming Dynasty, was originally from the Xie clan, but his ancestors married into the Chen family and adopted the Chen surname because they only had daughters and no sons to carry on the family line.
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Name Origin

In Chinese, Shieh means "to thank".

Spellings & Pronunciations

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. 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, Tze or Che 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 most commonly Chia, although Cheah, Seah, Sia, Shieh, Cha, Tse, Chay etc. can also be found. During the Chinese Diaspora, the region was administered by British Empire clerks, who knew little about Chinese dialects, often had to find their own romanizations. As a result, the variations are non-exhaustive. In the Phillipines, the name is also spelled as Sese (which also means thank you in Kapampangan, a local dialect in Pampanga, Philippines where the first Xie 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.
In the US, the name is sometimes spelled as Jair and Zia. Other variations of the surname include Shea and Shei.

Nationality & Ethnicity

The Shieh family originated in what is present day Kaifeng, Henan Province, China. The Shieh family is Chinese.

Famous People named Shieh

Are there famous people from the Shieh family? Share their story.

Early Shiehs

These are the earliest records we have of the Shieh family.