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.

生平

先為兗州刺史，甚有威惠。東漢末年任東郡太守。曾參加了董卓討伐戰，後為劉岱所殺。

號召討董

《三國志·魏書·武帝紀》注引《英雄記》說：「東郡太守橋瑁詐作京師三公移書與州郡，陳（董）卓罪惡，雲見逼迫，無以自救，企望義兵，解國患難。」但在羅貫中所注的《三國演義》中，將號召諸侯共討董卓寫成曹操所為。

《三國演義》中的橋瑁

第六回焚金闕董桌行兇 匿玉璽孫堅背約：「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。」

評價

• 應劭：「關東義兵先起于宋、韂之郊，東郡太守橋瑁負觽怙亂，陵蔑同盟，忿嫉同類，以殞厥命。陳留、濟陰迎助，謂為離德，棄好即戎，吏民殲之。草妖之興，豈不或信！」

• 王粲：「甚有威惠。」