Lady of Ch'iao Kuo
Encyclopedia
The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo (Qiao Guo) is a Hsien
noblewoman who lived in southern China
during the medieval Sui Dynasty
. Most of her history is recorded in the Standard History of the Sui Dynasty by scholar Wei Qiang.
's time, in Southern China
, where her tribe, the Hsien
(the medieval Chinese word for "Hsi", or "Xi") had their heavily forested lands treated like an exile place for prisoners, who intermarried with natives.
The Lady was a notable leader who successfully defending her tribe from enemies, eventually earning her title as the Lady of Ch'iao Kuo. At some point, she married a Chinese general and encouraged an appreciation of Chinese ways among her people.
The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo was born in 516 A.D. and lived through 3 dynasties
: the Liang
, the Chen
, and the Sui
.
No information is known about her mother and father, though some said that her father was killed while fighting raiders wearing dog-headed helmets.
She is noted as having a brother named T'ing, who ruled before her and defeated the "Dog-Head" raiders and other enemies. Other sibling
s are unknown. The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo had three grandsons named Feng Hun, Feng Hsian (Feng Xian) , and Feng Ang. Her grandsons' parents are undetermined and their relationships to each other are also unknown.
novel series in The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, written by Laurence Yep
. In the novel, she is known as Princess Redbird.
Li people
The Li or Hlai are a minority ethnic group, the vast majority of whom live off the southern coast of mainland China on Hainan Island, where they are the largest minority ethnic group...
noblewoman who lived in southern China
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
during the medieval Sui Dynasty
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
. Most of her history is recorded in the Standard History of the Sui Dynasty by scholar Wei Qiang.
Lady of Qiao Guo
The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo (Qiao Guo) lived in the Sui DynastySui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
's time, in Southern China
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, where her tribe, the Hsien
Li people
The Li or Hlai are a minority ethnic group, the vast majority of whom live off the southern coast of mainland China on Hainan Island, where they are the largest minority ethnic group...
(the medieval Chinese word for "Hsi", or "Xi") had their heavily forested lands treated like an exile place for prisoners, who intermarried with natives.
The Lady was a notable leader who successfully defending her tribe from enemies, eventually earning her title as the Lady of Ch'iao Kuo. At some point, she married a Chinese general and encouraged an appreciation of Chinese ways among her people.
Relatives
Little is known of Lady Ch'iao Kuo's family.The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo was born in 516 A.D. and lived through 3 dynasties
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
: the Liang
Liang Dynasty
The Liang Dynasty , also known as the Southern Liang Dynasty , was the third of the Southern dynasties in China and was followed by the Chen Dynasty...
, the Chen
Chen Dynasty
The Chen Dynasty , also known as the Southern Chen Dynasty, was the fourth and last of the Southern dynasties in China, eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty....
, and the Sui
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
.
No information is known about her mother and father, though some said that her father was killed while fighting raiders wearing dog-headed helmets.
She is noted as having a brother named T'ing, who ruled before her and defeated the "Dog-Head" raiders and other enemies. Other sibling
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
s are unknown. The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo had three grandsons named Feng Hun, Feng Hsian (Feng Xian) , and Feng Ang. Her grandsons' parents are undetermined and their relationships to each other are also unknown.
Cultural Depictions
The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo is depicted in the The Royal DiariesThe Royal Diaries
The Royal Diaries is a series of twenty books published by Scholastic Press from 1999 to 2005. In each of the books, a fictional diary of a real female figure of royalty as a child throughout world history was written by the author. The Royal Diaries was a spin-off of Scholastic's popular Dear...
novel series in The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, written by Laurence Yep
Laurence Yep
-Background:Chinese-American, Yep was born in San Francisco, California to Yep Gim Lew and Franche. His older brother, Thomas named him after studying a particular saint in a multicultural neighborhood that consisted of mostly African Americans. Growing up, he often felt torn between both...
. In the novel, she is known as Princess Redbird.