Li Guang

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Li Guang (184–119 BCE) was a Chinese military general of the Western Han dynasty. Nicknamed the "Flying General" by the Xiongnu, he fought primarily in the campaigns against the nomadic Xiongnu tribes to the north of the Western Han. He was known to the Xiongnu as a tough opponent when it came to fortress defense, and his presence was sometimes enough for the Xiongnu to abort a siege. Li Guang committed suicide shortly after the Battle of Mobei in 119 BC. He was blamed for failing to arrive at the battlefield in time (after getting lost in the desert), creating a gap in the encirclement and allowing the Xiongnu chanyu Yizhixie to escape after a confrontation between Wei Qing and Yizhixie's main force, which the Han army narrowly managed to defeat. Refusing to accept the humiliation of a court martial, Li Guang killed himself. Li Guang belonged to the Longxi branch of the Li clan (隴西李氏). Li Guang was a descendant of Laozi and the Qin general Li Xin, as well as an ancestor of the Western Liang dynasty and Tang dynasty monarchs. Li Guang was the grandfather of the Western Han general Li Ling who defected to the Xiongnu.