Xie Xuan, a celebrated general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was the nephew of the renowned statesman and prime minister Xie An. A man of both literary and martial prowess, Xie Xuan was known for his courage and strategic mind. Impressed by his talents, Xie An appointed him as the governor of Guangling (present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu), entrusting him with military and civil affairs north of the Yangtze River to defend against the powerful Former Qin state from the north.
In 383 AD, Former Qin Emperor Fu Jian led a massive army of 900,000 soldiers southward, determined to crush the Eastern Jin dynasty in one decisive blow. His brother Fu Rong commanded the vanguard, advancing to the Huai and Fei Rivers, leaving the Eastern Jin regime teetering on the brink of collapse.
Xie An appointed Xie Xuan as the vanguard commander, leading 80,000 troops to confront the enemy. The Jin army reached the Fei River, facing the Former Qin forces across the water. To outwit them, Xie Xuan proposed a "decisive battle by crossing the river," requesting Fu Jian to retreat slightly. Fu Jian fell for the trap and agreed, but as his army pulled back, the rear troops mistook it for a defeat and collapsed into chaos. Seizing the moment, Xie Xuan crossed the river in pursuit and won a decisive victory.
This is the famous Battle of the Fei River in history, which played a crucial role in stabilizing the Eastern Jin regime.
Xie An then ordered Xie Xuan to lead a northern campaign, reclaiming the six provinces of Xu, Yan, Qing, Si, Yu, and Liang in the north. The imperial court further appointed Xie Xuan as commander, placing him in charge of the military forces across seven provinces.
Xie Xuan had planned to press his advantage and expand his victories, but he incurred the jealousy of the imperial prince Sima Daozi. Sima Daozi slandered Xie Xuan to Emperor Xiaowu, who then used the excuse of the campaign having dragged on too long to issue an edict ordering Xie Xuan to withdraw his forces and take up a defensive position at Huaiyin.
Xie Xuan watched his hard-won victory slip away at the last moment, bitterness and rage swelling in his heart. Yet he dared not defy the imperial order, so he turned his army southward. On the march, his spirits sank and he fell gravely ill. From his sickbed, he wrote a memorial to Emperor Xiaowu: "The realm remains divided, and the people still suffer. But I am too ill to lead troops any longer. I beg you to relieve me of my command and let me return home to recover."
Emperor Xiaowu read the memorial and refused to accept Xie Xuan's resignation, ordering him instead to recuperate in Jingkou and dispatching a renowned physician to treat him. Yet two years later, Xie Xuan succumbed to his illness at just 46, leaving his grand ambition to unify the north forever unfulfilled.
The compilers of the *Book of Jin* remarked after writing the biography of Xie Xuan that Heaven had granted him too short a lifespan, causing his great enterprise of unifying the north to fail on the verge of success.
Later, the idiom "Failing on the Verge of Success" describes a failure when success is just within reach.
Source: *Book of Jin*, "Biography of Xie Xuan"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "功败垂成" came to describe a failure when success is just within reach.