According to legend, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, a hermit named Jiao Guang lived in Dantu. Emperor Xian of Han once sent an emissary to invite him back to the court, that emissary was Qiao Guolao. Qiao Guolao never succeeded in that task. But during that period, he saw the fall of Emperor Xian and the state’s military and political power seized by Cao Cao, he could not return to the capital to report to Emperor Xian. So he settled down in Wuzhou Mountain, north of the adjacent Changshan Mountain in Dantu. His residence back then is now what we know as Qiao Jia Men (literally Gate of Family Qiao Residence).
The exact location of Qiao Guolao’s Residence is not documented in historical records, but the ancestral temple of family Qiao survived in Qiao Jia Men. It is believed that the temple was where his residence used to lie. In 2005, an article published in Jingjiang Evening News by a Mr. Qiao talked about the grandeur of the Ancestral Temple of family Qiao, the scale of which was far greater than that of the Ancestral Temple of family Jiang in Xikou, Fenghua, but now it is the seat of the township government. The Ancestral Temple of family Qiao at Wuzhou Mountain is not only colossal but also presents local features that demonstrate the profound cultural heritage of Changshan Mountain.
Qiao Guoluo accepted lavish gifts from Liu Bei and worked hard on building the alliance between Sun and Liu, leaving behind the much-told tale of Wu Guotai taking Liu Bei as the husband of Sun Shangxiang at Ganlu Temple. All of this was because of his two daughters who were the envy of the world. Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, born and growing up at the foot of Changshan Mountain, were well nourished by the water and mountains in Dantu. The beauty of the sisters was comparable to the moon and flowers. What kind of beauty was that? Unfortunately, no specific records are available. But we all know that peonies from Luoyang are the king of flowers, the most precious varieties of which being “Yao Huang”, “Wei Zi”, and “Er Qiao”. The beauty of the Qiao sisters can also be traced to the peony family.
What the historical records did document is that the elder one of Qiao Guolao’s two daughters, Da Qiao was married to Sun Ce, and the younger one, Xiao Qiao, to Zhou Yu, the former being the Lord of Wu, and the latter being the governor-general who held the grand seal. According to “Wu State Chapter: Biography of Zhou Yu”: “When they returned from the successful besiege of Wancheng, Qiao Guolao betrothed them his two magnificent daughters. The older one was to marry Sun Ce, and the younger one was to marry Zhou Yu.” Sun Quan was simply unable to do anything when Qiao Guolao staged the betrothal comedy at Ganlu Temple.
After getting married, Sun Ce travelled from one place to another to build the hegemony for Wu, and did not spend much time with Da Qiao. Da Qiao later moved to Daqiao Village near Qiao Jia Men where Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu would visit frequently. Her sister and brother-in-law lived in the village east of Daqiao Village, known today as Xiaoqiao Village. When Yang Zhu, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, visited the two villages in Qiao Jia Men, he wrote the renowned Song of the Two Qiao Villages that goes: “The creek rings with mournful sounds, and I ride the donkey to visit Qiao’s Residence, where an old cypress is immersed in the mist of spring near the residence, with its old stems covered with moss since the Han Dynasty. Every time I look into the bright eyes of history, I think the sons-in-law of Jiangdong is remarkable. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were both good spouses, heroes and beauties varied in kind. The divine beauty and virtuousness are still well-known on the south of Yangtze River. I trace the history and pour wine to remember the past ones, as the peach blossoms are blown to the ground by the evening wind.
A few years later, Sun Ce was ambushed in Rushan Mountain, Dantu, sustaining severe injuries. He later died at the age of 26, and Da Qiao was only 20. From then on, we lost track of Da Qiao in history. She raised three daughters and a son she had with Sun Ce at the foot of Changshan Mountain and taught them words and deeds by herself, all of them making their marks on history. Some say that when Da Qiao died, she was buried together with Sun Ce at Hengshan Mountain because a tombstone on the Hengshan Mountain that read: “Here lies the Young Overlord of Wu” still existed till the Cultural Revolution. However, there is no way to substantiate that anymore. Others say that Da Qiao was buried in the Ten-mile Changshan Mountain with her parents. As for Xiao Qiao, she lived happily with Zhou Yu for 11 years as he fought battles from victory to victory. After the Battle of the Red Cliff, Zhou Yu died of illness in Yueyang, Hunan, and Xiao Qiao spent the rest of her life there.
