Xie Jinyuan

Infobox Military Person
name=Xie Jinyuan
謝晉元/谢晋元


caption=Xie and 4 of his subordinates, photographed while imprisoned in the Shanghai International Settlements
rank=Colonel
commands=5th Regiment, 2nd Division
524th Regiment, 88th Division
unit=
family=Wife - Ling Weicheng, four children
nickname=
lived=1905 - 24 April 1941
placeofbirth=Jiaoling County, Guangzhou
allegiance=
enteredservice=1925
currentlyresides=
serviceyears=1925 - 1941
portrayedby=
laterwork=
awards=Order of Blue Sky and White Sun with Grand Cordon, posthumously made Brigadier General

Xie Jinyuan (zh-ts|t=謝晉元|s=谢晋元) (b. 1905-d. 24 April 1941), courtesy name Zhongmin (中民), was a Chinese military leader and war hero.

Biography

A Hakka native, Xie was born in Jiaoling County in Guangdong. He majored in politics at Whampoa Military Academy, and after graduation was assigned to the 5th Regiment, 2nd Division as a platoon commander. In 1928 he was promoted to company commander, and in 1929 the division was involved in the defence of Shandong from a Japanese invasion and Xie was badly wounded in the defence. After he recovered he took command of the machine gun battalion of the regiment, and was later promoted to a Major and transferred as a staffer in the Wuhan HQ. In 1931 he accepted an assignment to the 78th Division of the 19th Route Army, and in October 1930 he was transferred to the 88th as the battalion commander of the Reserve Regiment, and later served as vice regimental commander and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. From October 1936 he served as chief of staff in the 262nd Brigade.

When he was transferred to the 524th Regiment in October 1937, he was not familiar with any of the men under his command. The 524th Regiment of the 88th Division defended the Sihang Warehouse, in the final phase of the Battle of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Xie Jinyuan was assassinated on 24 April 1941, by Sergeant He Dingcheng and 3 other of his own troops, who were bought over by Wang Jingwei's collaborationist government. More than 100,000 people turned up for his funeral and he was posthumously made a Brigadier General of the National Revolutionary Army.

He married Ling Weicheng (凌維誠) in 1929, and had 2 sons and 2 daughters: Youmin (幼民), Jimin (繼民), Xuefen (雪芬) and Lanfen (蘭芬).

Legacy

Xie Jinyuan's body was interred in a small garden along Singapore Road (now Yao Road) where his bunk used to be. In 1947 the Shanghai city government renamed Jiaoyuan Park (where the soldiers lived) as Jinyuan Park, and renamed an elementary school in the vicinity 12th District Jinyuan National Elementary School. The road to the immediate north of the warehouse was renamed Jinyuan Road.

On 16 April 1983, Xie's grave was moved to the Wanguo Public Mausoleum. In the same year, the barracks area was rebuilt and named Jinyuan Alley. In March 1986 the city council of Xie's hometown, Jiaoling, Guangdong, set up a monument in his honour, and his alma mater Jiankeng Elementary School was renamed Jinyuan Elementary School.