Da Qiao 大 桥 and Xiao Qiao 小 桥 were known as one of the most beautiful women of Three Kingdoms. They were daughters of Lord Qiao and come from Wan County (皖縣 ), Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡 ), which is in present-day Anqing 安庆, Anhui 安徽 province. They were educated and very skillful in playing guqing. Such a beautiful and talented ladies were noticed by two powerful and brave friends, Sun Ce 孙策, future founder of Wu Kingdom, and his future general commander Zhou Yu 周瑜.

Da Qiao married Sun Ce, Xiao Qiao married Zhou Yu around 199 A.D. and they lived happily in Wu Commandery (with the capital Wu, present day Suzhou), near the present day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, while husbands were busy founding Wu Kingdom and conquering neighboring feudal lands. Da Qiao bore Sun Ce son and three daughters, Xiao Qiao brought Zhou Yu three daughters, two of them later married into Sun imperial family.

When Sun Ce was dying after assassination, Da Qiao was pregnant with his posthumous son Sun Shao, therefore he nominated as heir his younger brother, Sun Quan, who was 18 years old at that time. Da Qiao never disputed this decision and never claimed the throne for her son.
In the movie Battle of the Red Cliff, story says that Cao Cao, who was famous for stealing other men’s wives and concubines, desired beautiful Xiao Qiao, wife of Zhou Yu, so much, that he wanted to invade Sun Quan’s lands and initiated the battle. In Chapter 44 of the novel Romance of Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮 tells Zhou Yu that Cao Cao 曹操 wants to have the Two Qiaos for himself putting in front “Ode to the Bronze Sparrow Platform” (銅雀臺賦 ), a poem written by Cao Cao’s son, exceptionally talented poet Cao Zhi. Zhou Yu went outrageous and hardened his decision to convince Sun Quan to ally with Liu Bei against Cao Cao and face him in battle. Later on though, Zhou Yu hated Zhuge Liang for his wits and wanted to assassinate him, despite his help in the battle. But Xiao Qiao saved Liu Bei military advisor, as a gratitude for saving her husband.

In Chinese opera Fenghuang Er Qiao Sun Ce took three thousand troops, when he left Yuan Shao, and allied with Qiao army, led by Qiao sisters, who are skillful warriers. He wins the hand of Da Qiao, with the help of Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao.

In modern culture, the Qiao sisters are featured as playable characters in Koei’s Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series. The anime Koihime Musō and Ikki Tousen make references to Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao as well, in which they are known by their respective names in Japanese – Daikyō and Shōkyō. Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-ling starred as Xiao Qiao in the 2008 Chinese epic war film Red Cliff directed by John Woo. Chinese actress Huang Yi portrayed Xiao Qiao in Just Another Pandora’s Box, a spoof of Red Cliff. Cai Hancen and Tsai Yi-chen portrayed Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao respectively in the 2009 Taiwanese television series K.O.3an Guo, a spoof of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a modern high school setting. Chinese actresses Liu Jing and Zhao Ke portrayed Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao respectively in my favourite 2010 Chinese television series Three Kingdoms. The Qiaos are featured as “gods” in the Japanese mobile game Puzzle & Dragons, as part of the Three Kingdoms God series.

Helena Avdjukevica