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Qiao Mao (pronunciation) (died 190), courtesy name Yuanwei, was an official and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. In 190, he joined a coalition of warlords who launched a campaign against Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who controlled the Han central government and held Emperor Xian hostage. Later that year, he was killed after getting into a dispute with Liu Dai, one of the other warlords.

Life

Qiao Mao was a relative of Qiao Xuan. He initially served as the Inspector (刺史) of Yan Province, and gained much prestige and respect during his tenure. Sometime before 189, he was appointed as the Administrator (太守) of Dong Commandery (around present-day Puyang, Henan). In 189, He Jin, the General-in-Chief (大將軍) who was serving as a regent for the underage Emperor Shao, secretly instructed Qiao Mao and three other regional officials – Dong Zhuo, Wang Kuang and Ding Yuan – to lead their forces into the vicinity of Luoyang, the imperial capital, and demand for the extermination of the eunuch faction in the imperial court. He Jin's plan was to pressure his half-sister, Empress Dowager He (Emperor Shao's mother), into agreeing to execute the eunuchs, who were at odds with his faction. The empress dowager did not yield.

In late 189, taking advantage of the power vacuum created in the aftermath of the conflict between He Jin's faction and the eunuch faction, Dong Zhuo led his forces into Luoyang and seized control over the central government. He subsequently deposed Emperor Shao and replaced him with his younger half-brother, who became historically known as Emperor Xian. Later that year, Qiao Mao forged a letter from the Three Ducal Ministers and sent it to all the regional warlords spread throughout the Han Empire. In the letter, he wrote about Dong Zhuo's tyranny and cruelty, and urged the warlords to rise up against Dong Zhuo and save Emperor Xian and the central government.

In the spring of 190, Qiao Mao and nine other warlords – Yuan Shu, Han Fu, Kong Zhou, Liu Dai, Wang Kuang, Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao, Yuan Yi and Bao Xin – formed a military coalition under Yuan Shao's leadership and launched a punitive campaign against Dong Zhuo. After the Battle of Xingyang in the middle of 190, Liu Dai killed Qiao Mao over a dispute. Wang Gong (王肱) replaced Qiao Mao as the Administrator of Dong Commandery.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Qiao Xuan appears as a minor character in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticises the events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. His family name was erroneously written as 喬/乔 in Chinese instead of 橋/桥. He was serving as the Administrator (太守) of Dong Commandery (東郡) around 190 and 191. In chapter 5, he was named as one of the 18 regional warlords in the coalition that launched the campaign against Dong Zhuo. In chapter 6, Liu Dai, another of the 18 warlords, asked for supplies from Qiao Mao, who refused. Liu Dai then led his forces to attack Qiao Mao's camp, killed him, and took control over his forces.

See also

• Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms

References

1. ^ de Crespigny (2007), p. 701.
2. (英雄記曰：瑁字元偉，玄族子。先為兖州刺史，甚有威惠。) Yingxiong Ji annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 1.
3. (紹等又為畫策，多召四方猛將及諸豪傑，使並引兵向京城，以脅太后。進然之。 ... 遂西召前將軍董卓屯關中上林苑，又使府掾太山王匡東發其郡強弩，并召東郡太守橋瑁屯城皐，使武猛都尉丁原燒孟津，火照城中，皆以誅宦官為言。太后猶不從。) Houhanshu vol. 69.
4. (英雄記曰： ... 東郡太守橋瑁詐作京師三公移書與州郡，陳卓罪惡，云「見逼迫，無以自救，企望義兵，解國患難。」) Yingxiong Ji annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 1.
5. (初平元年春正月，後將軍袁術、兾州牧韓馥、豫州刺史孔伷、兖州刺史劉岱、河內太守王匡、勃海太守袁紹、陳留太守張邈、東郡太守橋瑁、山陽太守袁遺、濟北相鮑信同時俱起兵，衆各數萬，推紹為盟主。) Sanguozhi vol. 1.
6. (劉岱與橋瑁相惡，岱殺瑁，以王肱領東郡太守。) Sanguozhi vol. 1.
7. (頃之，酸棗諸軍食盡，衆散。劉岱與橋瑁相惡，岱殺瑁，以王肱領東郡太守。) Zizhi Tongjian vol. 59.
8. (操發檄文去後，各鎮諸侯，皆起兵相應： ... 第七鎮，東郡太守喬瑁。 ... 諸路軍馬，多少不等，有三萬者，有一二萬者，各領文官武將，投洛陽來。) Sanguo Yanyi ch. 5.
9. (兗州太守劉岱，問東郡太守喬瑁借糧。瑁推辭不與，岱引軍突入瑁營，殺死喬瑁，盡降其眾。) Sanguo Yanyi ch. 6.

• Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23-220 AD. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004156050.
• Fan, Ye (5th century). Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu).
• Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi).
• Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
• Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.

• 2nd-century births
• 190 deaths
• Han dynasty warlords
• Han dynasty people killed in battle