Li Guang

Li Guang
General of the Western Han dynasty
Born	(Unknown)
Died	119 BC
Names
Traditional Chinese	李廣
Simplified Chinese	李广
Pinyin	Lǐ Guǎng
Wade–Giles	Li Kuang
Other names	"Flying General" (simplified Chinese: 飞将军; traditional Chinese: 飛將軍; pinyin: Fēi Jiāngjūn; Wade–Giles: Fei Chiang-chün)

Li Guang (died 119 BC), born in Tianshui, Gansu, was a general of the Western Han dynasty. Nicknamed "Flying General" by the Xiongnu, he fought primarily in the campaigns against the nomadic Xiongnu tribes to the north of China. He was known to the Xiongnu as a tough opponent when it came to fortress defense, and his presence was sometimes discouraging 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 Ichise Chanyu to escape after a confrontation between Wei Qing and the Chanyu's main force, which the Han army narrowly managed to defeat. Refusing to accept the humiliation of a court martial, Li Guang took his own life.

Li Guang was a descendant of Laozi and the Qin general Li Xin, as well as an ancestor of the Western Liang and Tang dynasty monarchs. Li Guang belonged to the Longxi branch of the Li clan ().

According to Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, Li Guang was a man of great build, with long arms and good archery skills, able to shoot an arrow deeply into a stone (which resembles the shape of a crouching tiger) on one occasion. At the same time, like his contemporaries Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, he was a caring and well-respected general who earned the respect of his soldiers. He also earned the favour of Emperor Wen, who said of him: "If he had been born in the time of Emperor Gaozu, he would have been given a fief of ten thousand households without any difficulty" (Chinese:萬户侯).

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