Shi Xie (pronunciationⓘ) (137–226), courtesy name Weiyan, also rendered as Sĩ Nhiếp in Vietnamese, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China.
The third-century historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi) is a major source of Chinese traditions concerning Shi Xie's life.
Shi Xie was in the sixth generation from his ancestors who migrated to northern Vietnam,[4] born in Jiao Province, but his ancestral home was around present-day Tai'an, Shandong.
His ancestors moved to Jiao Province when Wang Mang usurped the throne and established the Xin dynasty (9–23) with himself as its emperor.
[5] In his youth, Shi Xie studied the Zuo Zhuan under the tutelage of one Liu Tao (劉陶) from Yingchuan Commandery (潁川郡).
Later, he was nominated as a xiaolian (civil service candidate) and served in the Han central government as a Gentleman of Writing (尚書郎) but was later dismissed because of "official reasons".
At the same time, he also sent his subordinate Wu Ju (吳巨) to replace the deceased Shi Huang (史璜) as the Administrator of Cangwu Commandery (蒼梧郡).
To counter Liu Biao's attempts to extend his influence into Jiao Province, the Han central government issued an imperial decree appointing Shi Xie as General of the Household Who Pacifies the South (綏南中郎將) and putting him in charge of the seven commanderies in Jiao Province.
Around the time, the Han Empire was in a state of chaos, as various warlords fought for power and territories in northern and central China.
In the meantime, after learning of Shi Hui's rebellion, Sun Quan ordered Lü Dai, the Inspector of Guang Province, to lead troops to recapture Jiaozhi Commandery.
Shi Xie ruled Vietnam as an autonomous warlord for forty years and was posthumously deified by later Vietnamese monarchs.
[8] Taylor (1983) also believed his imperial appointments gave formal legitimacy to "the emergence of a regional ruling class with strong ties to the local society".
It is apparent from events following his death that he "presided over an aberrant regional power arrangement based on great Han-Viet families that could field private armies".
From the Chinese's view, Shi Xie stood as a "frontier guardian"; from the Vietnamese side, he was the head of a regional ruling-class society.