Xiè Áo 謝翱 (1249–1295), zì Gāoyǔ 臯羽, sobriquet Xīfàzǐ 晞髮子 (“Sun-Dried Hair”, a posture of loyalist rage drawn from the Lísāo). Native of Pǔchéng 浦城 in Jiànzhōu 建州 (modern Fújiàn), later settled in Yánzhōu 嚴州 (modern Jiàndé 建德, Zhèjiāng). One of the three principal Sòng yímín poets of the early Yuán together with Lín Jǐngxī 林景熙 and Wáng Yánwǔ 汪元量.
Resistance career. When Wén Tiānxiáng (文天祥) raised the loyalist banner in Jiāngnán in 1276, Xiè Áo led a body of several hundred volunteers from his native region to join Wén’s headquarters, where he served as Counsellor (zīyì cānjūn) of the Marshal’s Office 諮議參軍. After Wén’s capture in 1278 Xiè escaped southward and lived under disguise in northern Fújiàn and central Zhèjiāng, refusing every Yuán summons.
Famous lament. His 西臺慟哭記 Xītái tòngkū jì (“Account of the Wailing on Xītái”) — written on the seventh anniversary of Wén Tiānxiáng’s death — is the single most famous Sòng-loyalist prose lament: Xiè climbed to the Xītái terrace at the Yánlíng Fishing-Platform 嚴陵釣臺 on the Fùchūn river, struck a bronze chime with bamboo, and wailed to the south while the sound of the chime broke. The piece was widely anthologised and became the literary archetype of yímín mourning.
Yuèquán yínshè. Together with 方鳳 and 吳思齊 he served as one of the three judges of 吳渭’s Yuèquán yínshè poetry contest of 1286–1287, contributing the surviving shīpíng (poetic critical apparatus) preserved in KR4h0060.
Works. Xīfàjí 晞髮集, Tiāndì jiān jí 天地間集 (an anthology of fragments by other yímín poets), and the Xītái tòngkū jì. CBDB person 20065.