Lee Chiao was born Lee Neng-chi in 1934 in the village of Fantzulin in Tahu Township, Miaoli County. His father was once a guardsman conscripted by the Japanese to prevent violent conflicts between the Han and local Aborigines and to protect villages from Aboriginal attacks, but was later jailed several times for his involvement with the anti-Japanese Farmers 'Movement.
李喬，本名李能棋，1934 年出生於苗栗大湖鄉境的蕃仔林，父親是「隘勇」（日治時受僱防衛村落、避免原住民掠殺及原漢衝突的壯丁）出身的抗日農民運動家，曾因此入獄多次。