The province encompassed modern-day northern Vietnam and Liangguang, and was composed of nine commanderies: Gaoliang (高涼郡; around present-day Yangjiang, Guangdong), Yulin, Cangwu, Nanhai, Zhuya, Hepu, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan.

As the Three Kingdoms began to emerge after 220, Shi Xie became a vassal of Sun Quan, the founder of Eastern Wu, but still retained his autonomy over Jiao.

According to one account, in 262, the Wu emperor, Sun Xiu, sent the official, Deng Xun (鄧荀), to Jiaozhi to gather peacocks and wild boars.

[4] Regardless of which account is true, in May 263, a county official, Lã Hưng (呂興; Lü Xing) incited the people and soldiers of Jiaozhi to revolt, and the rebels killed both Sun Xu and Deng Xun.

After the fall of Shu, he sent his Commandant, Đường Phổ (唐譜; Tang Pu), to Jincheng (進乘; in present-day Pingbian Miao Autonomous County, Yunnan) to reach out to Cao Wei's Chief Controller of Nanzhong, Huo Yi, for help.

He requested that a native of Jianning (建寧; around present-day Qujing, Yunnan), Cuan Gu be made Prefect of Jiaozhi, and dispatched him along with many other generals, most of whom formerly served Shu, to help Lã Hưng.

He sent the Inspector of Jiao, Liu Jun (劉俊), the Grand Commander, Xiu Ze (脩則) and the general Gu Rong (顧容) to attack the province.

After they reached Hepu, Wu's Administrator of Cangwu, Tao Huang volunteered to lead an attack against Yang Ji at the Fen River (分水), but he was defeated and lost two generals in the battle.

[15] In April 271, Yu Si led his army to attack and kill Dong Yuan,[16] so Yang Ji appointed Wang Su (王素) as the new Prefect of Jiuzhen.

[17] Instead of marching head-on to Jiaozhi, Xue Xu employed Tao Huang's strategy to use a sea route and catch the Jin army by surprise.

[18] Yang Ji sent Mao Jiong and Meng Yue (孟岳) to fight Wu, but they were badly routed at Fengxi (封溪, in present-day Đông Anh, Hanoi).

Jiaozhi was being attacked from within and outside, and more than 2,000 Jin defenders were killed along with the generals Zhang Deng (張登), Meng Tong (孟通) and Shao Hui (邵暉), while Yang Ji, Mao Jiong and the others were captured.

[22] Hearing the disastrous defeat at Jiaozhi, Wang Su and other Jin generals planned to abandon Jiao and flee back to Nanzhong.

[23] The Jin Officer of Merit, Li Zuo (李祚) and Commandant, Shao Yin (邵胤), led their troops to defend Jiuzhen.

[27] Tao Huang remained the Inspector of Jiao, and during his tenure, he formed Jiude Commandery (九德郡; around present-day North Central Coast, Vietnam) and introduced more than thirty counties in Jiuzhen.

Yet, despite reclaiming the province, they were unable to turn the tide of the war, and just ten years later, Jin would conquer Wu in 280, ending the Three Kingdoms period.