Xie Fanjing (謝梵境) was an empress of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Liu Song Dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

. Her husband was the last ruler of the dynasty,

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...

Biography

Xie Fanjing came from a noble family—her father Xie Yang (謝颺) was a mid-low level official in the imperial administration, but her grandfather Xie Zhuang (謝莊) was a highly ranked, albeit not particularly powerful official in the administrations of Emperor Xiaowu and Emperor Ming, and was a descendant of Xie Wan (謝萬), the younger brother of the famed Jin prime minister

Xie An Xie An (謝安) (320 – 12 October 385), courtesy name Anshi (安石), formally Duke Wenjing of Luling (廬陵文靖公), also known as "Xie Dongshan" (谢东山, "dongshan" literally 'East mount'), was a Chinese politician of the Eastern Jin d ...

. (Xie Zhuang's father Xie Hongwei (謝弘微) was adopted into Xie An's line, and so could also be considered a descendant of Xie An.) Fanjing married Emperor Shun as his empress in 478,''Zi zhi tong jian: Wen bai dui zhao quan yi ben'' by Guang Sima and Guochao Feng when he was 11 and effectively a puppet emperor under the general

Xiao Daocheng Emperor Gao of Southern Qi ((南)齊高帝; 427– 11 April 482According to Xiao Daocheng's biography in ''Book of Southern Qi'', he died aged 56 (by east Asian reckoning) on the ''renxu'' day of the 3rd month of the 4th year of the ''Jianyuan'' er ...

; her age at that time was not known. Shun was forced to yield the throne to Xiao in 479, ending Liu Song and starting

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succeede ...

. As Xiao created Emperor Shun the Prince of Ruyin, she carried the title of

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

of Ruyin. Later that year, Emperor Shun was killed by soldiers who were supposed to protect him, and Xiao followed by ordering the execution of the Liu clan. It appears probable that Fanjing survived the slaughter, as the slaughter targeted male members of the

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

, although it is not known conclusively. It is also not known when she died, and there was no record of a

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

given to her. This resulted in her children's execution.

Sources

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanjing, Empress Xie Xie Fanjing, Empress