During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Qiao Xuan and Cao Cao were close friends who often drank and joked together.
One day, the two were drinking and laughing together again, and after a few cups of wine, their conversation grew livelier.
Qiao Xuan suddenly smiled and asked Cao Cao, "Brother Cao, after I die, what will you do?" Cao Cao was startled, thinking it was just a joke between them, so he casually replied, "Of course I'll come to your grave to pay respects. Brother Qiao, why bring up such a question? Are you doubting our friendship?"
Qiao Xuan shook his head and said half-jokingly, "After I die, if you pass by my grave, you must offer a chicken and a jug of wine to honor me. Otherwise, when your carriage moves three steps past, I will cause your stomach to ache from the underworld."
Cao Cao laughed heartily: "Brother Qiao, you worry too much. Our friendship is deep enough—no need for your reminders."
The two men looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Later, Qiao Xuan indeed passed away before Cao Cao. When Cao Cao became Chancellor to Emperor Xian of Han, he frequently led campaigns across the land. One day, happening to pass by Qiao Xuan's tomb, Cao Cao prepared a chicken and a jug of wine to honor his late friend, fulfilling the bond of their friendship.
Later, the idiom "a measure of wine and a single chicken" came to refer to a humble offering made to mourn a deceased friend.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Qiao Xuan"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "斗酒只鸡" came to describe a humble offering made to mourn a deceased friend.