Xie graduated in 1912 from Tokyo Tong-wen College and in 1916 from Tokyo St. Paul's College. He served in the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) from 1917 to 1925. Xie went to the United States for further study in 1925 and enrolled at the University of Chicago. The following year, he transferred to Harvard University.
Xie returned to China in 1927 and became a lecturer at Lingnan University School of Philosophy. After the anti-Japanese war, he went to Nanking (Nanjing) and taught at Nanking University. Xie left for Hong Kong in 1949.
In 1958 he went to the USA and translated many important Christian books into Chinese. In later years he went back to China and resided in Canton. His writings include Education for Personality, A Philosophy of Religion, Chinese Ethical Idea, Reflections on America, A Philosophy of Life, Individual Gospel, Outline of Christianity, and others.