Wife of Sun Ce, One of the Two Qiao Beauties of Jiangdong
Daughter of Lord Qiao, famed for her beauty with her sister Xiao Qiao as the "Two Qiao of Jiangdong." Sun Ce took her as wife after breaking Wancheng; devoted but often apart, she was widowed young when Sun Ce was assassinated. Du Mu’s famous lines — "had the east wind not favored Zhou Yu, the two Qiao would be locked deep in spring in the Bronze Bird Terrace" — bind her and her sister’s fate to the outcome of Red Cliffs; though a literary exaggeration, it made the "Two Qiao" one of the best-known female symbols of the Three Kingdoms.
After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu broke Wancheng, both took a liking to Lord Qiao’s two daughters — Sun Ce wed Da Qiao, Zhou Yu wed Xiao Qiao — and the match of "heroes and beauties" was celebrated for a time. Sadly Sun Ce was assassinated the next year, and the marriage lasted only a little over a year.
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