Xie Jianshun

Xie Jianshun (; born January 24, 1918 – ?) was a Taiwanese intersex man who gained considerable fame in 1953 when his variation was discovered by physicians of the Republic of China Armed Forces. He was considered by many to be the first Chinese "transsexual" when he underwent sex reassignment surgery and was frequently dubbed as the "Chinese Christine" due to both of them having been soldiers. This caused major cultural impact on the Taiwanese people as many felt it put the nation on the same level of development as the United States. Despite this, Xie did not want to transition from intersex to female but was encouraged to do so by medical professionals.

Biography Early life Xie was born on January 24, 1918 in Chaozhou, Guandong, China. He joined the National Revolutionary Army when he was 16 and lost both of his parents by age 19. He moved to Taiwan in 1949.

Military service and diagnosis Xie's intersex variation was discovered in 1953 due to him seeking medical attention after experiencing cramps, which turned out to be appendicitis. The intense media coverage of the case lead to the hospital staff and Xie's associates to have to try to keep the journalist away for the sake of Xie's privacy. At the beginning of this process, Xie's medical information was released to the media and reported on every time there was an operation. The media would use article titles like, "The Yin-Yang Person's Interior Parts Revealed Yesterday After Surgery: The Presence of Uterus and Ovaries Confirmed" to keep the public informed of the ongoing medical exploration of Xie. The physicians told the media what had been discovered during surgery before Xie had even woken up from surgery. They decided that since Xie had fully functioning female reproductive organs and less developed male reproductive organs, that the removal of the male organs was the best plan. The physicians believed that biology was more important than psychology in determining Xie's sex. Because of the media frenzy surrounding Xie, newspapers in Taiwan began publishing far more accounts of intersex people, transgender people, and unusual medical variations of the body.