Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Hsieh Shêng
HSIEH Shêng 謝陞 (T. 伊晉), d. 1645, Ming-Ch'ing official, was a native of Tê-chou, Shantung. His father, Hsieh T'ing-ts'ê 謝廷策 (T. 正甫, a chin-shih of 1589), was a censor under the Ming. Hsieh Shêng became a chin-shih in 1607 and served successively as magistrate in three districts of Chihli (San-ho, Tsun-hua and Hsiung-hsien) and in one of Honan (Hua-hsien). After service as a second class secretary of the Board of Ceremonies, during the T'ien-ch'i reign period he was transferred to the Board of Civil Office and made director of a Department. Following several promotions, including a transfer to Nanking, he was in 1640 made president of the Board of Civil Office and Grand Secretary with titles of Junior Tutor, and Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. After the taking of Chin-chou and neighboring cities outside the Great Wall by the Manchus in 1642 he was discredited along with officials in the Board of War, and retired. But soon after the establishment of the new dynasty in 1644 he asked for reinstatement. He was appointed a Grand Secretary and was placed concurrently in charge of the Board of Civil Office. Early in the following year he was taken ill, and despite the proffered services of the imperial physician, died the next month. He was given posthumously the title of Grand Tutor and the name Ch'ing-i 清義.
[1/244/7b; 2/79/2b; Tê-chou chih (1788) 9/14a.]
Dean R. Wickes