Xie Xuan

Xie Xuan (謝玄) (343 – 8 February 388[1]), courtesy name Youdu (幼度), formally Duke Xianwu of Kangle (康樂獻武公), was an Eastern Jin general who is best known for repelling the Former Qin army at the Battle of Fei River, preventing the Former Qin emperor Fu Jiān from destroying Jin and uniting China.

Xi made these remarks based on the time when he also served on Huan Wen's staff and saw Xie Xuan's abilities.

Xie Xuan recruited elite soldiers, and among the ones that joined him was Liu Laozhi (劉牢之), who in later campaigns served as his assistant and forward commander.

Xie Xuan, charged with engaging Former Qin forces, along with Liu Laozhi, dealt them minor defeats, reducing their morale.

Later that year, however, Xie Xuan was put in charge of a force targeting the recovery of central China, along with Huan Shiqian.

In 386, after the generals Zhai Liao and Zhang Yuan (張願) rebelled, in light of popular opinion that believed that the troops were being worn out, Xie abandoned the plans entirely, and indeed moved his headquarters from Pengcheng south to Huaiyin (淮陰, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu), although Jin continued to hold most of the territory south of the Yellow River.