Li Guang Lĭ Guăng ( , died 119 BC ) , born in Tianshui , Gansu , was a famous general of the Han Dynasty . Nicknamed The Flying General by his Xiongnu enemies ( Chinese : 飛將軍李廣 ) , he fought primarily in the campaigns against the Xiongnu peoples to the north of Han 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 Xiongnu to abort the 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 Yizhixie Chanyu to escape after a confrontation between Wei Qing and the Chanyu ' s main force , whom 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 an ancestor of the Western Liang rulers and the Tang dynasty emperors . Biography . According to the Shiji ( Chinese : 史記 ) by Sima Qian ( Chinese : 司馬遷 ) , 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 ) Li Guang first distinguished himself during the Rebellion of the Seven States , where he served under the Grand General Zhou Yafu ( Chinese : 周亞夫 ) . However , Emperor Jing was unhappy that he had accepted a seal given by the Liu Wu the Prince of Liang , hence Li did not get promoted to a marquisate despite his anti - rebellion achievement . However , Li Guang ' s late military career was constantly haunted by repeated incidents of what would be regarded as " bad luck " by later scholars . He had a nasty tendency of losing direction during mobilisations , and in field battles he was often outnumbered and surrounded by superior enemies . While Li Guang ' s fame attracted much of his enemies ' attention , Li Guang ' s troops relative lack of discipline and his lack of strategic planning often put him and his regiments in awkward situations . Li Guang himself narrowly escaped capture after his army was annihilated during an offensive campaign at Yanmen ( 雁門 ) in 129 BC , was stripped of official titles and demoted to commoner status with fellow defeated general Gongsun Ao ( 公孫敖 ) after paying parole . During a separate campaign in 120 BC , Li Guang , this time with his son Li Gan ( 李敢 ) by his side , was surrounded again by superior enemies . His 4 , 000 troops suffered heavy casualties before reinforcements led by Zhang Qian ( 張騫 ) arrived in time for the rescue . The rules of the Han army dictated a commander ' s achievement was measured only according to his number of enemy kills minus the casualties of his own side . These , together with Li Guang ' s political naivety , denied him of any chance of promotion to a marquisate , his lifelong dream . Emperor Wu even secretly ordered Wei Qing not to assign Li Guang to important missions ( such as the vanguard position ) , on the grounds of Li Guang ' s famed " terrible fortune " . References . Joseph P Yap ` ` Wars With The Xiongnu - A translation From Zizhi Tongjian ` ` Chapters 3 - 4 . AuthorHouse ( 2009 ) ISBN 978 - 1 - 4490 - 0604 - 4