The Qiao sisters are featured as characters in the 14th-century historical novel,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the historical events before and during the
Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, the Chinese character for "Qiao" in their names, 橋/桥, is replaced with 喬/乔. In the novel, the Qiao sisters are the daughters of a certain
Qiao Guolao (喬國老; literally "State Elder Qiao"), possibly referring to
Qiao Xuan.
Zhou Yu's biography in the third-century historical text,
Records of the Three Kingdoms, did not mention the name of the Qiao sisters' father, who was simply referred to as
Qiao Gong (橋公; literally "Elder Qiao" or "Lord Qiao"). Historically, Qiao Xuan died in 184, while the Qiao sisters married Sun Ce and Zhou Yu around 199, so it was not possible that Qiao Xuan was still living when the marriages took place. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Qiao Xuan was the "Qiao Gong" mentioned in Zhou Yu's biography. In Chapter 44 of the novel,
Zhuge Liang tells
Zhou Yu that
Cao Cao's desire to have the Two Qiaos for himself is evident in "Ode to the
Bronze Sparrow Platform" (銅雀臺賦), a historical poem written by Cao Cao's son,
Cao Zhi. Zhuge Liang recites an altered version of the poem with added verses: An enraged Zhou Yu then hardens his decision to convince
Sun Quan to ally with
Liu Bei against Cao Cao, then prevailing over the latter in the Battle of Chibi. Historically, the battle predates the terrace by two years, and Cao Zhi's poem was written two years after Zhou Yu's death. Nonetheless, the story of the Bronze Bird Terrace and the Qiao sisters in the popular tradition aroused people's imagination for generations. ,
Hunan, China. == In Chinese opera ==