Li Guangli (died 89 BC) was a Chinese military general of the

Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring in ...

and a member of the Li family favoured by

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong, was the seventh Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi ...

. His brother Li Yannian was also close to Emperor Wu. With the suicide of Emperor Wu's crown prince

Liu Ju Liu Ju (; early 128 – 30 September 91 BC), formally known as Crown Prince Wei (衛太子) and posthumously as Crown Prince Li (戾太子, literally "the Unrepentant Crown Prince", "Li" being an unflattering name) was a Western Han dynasty crown ...

in 91 BC, his nephew Liu Bo was among the candidates for the title of crown prince. Li was a brother-in-law of Emperor Wu, whose favourite concubine was his sister Lady Li, and was the chosen general in the

War of the Heavenly Horses The War of the Heavenly Horses () or the Han–Dayuan War () was a military conflict fought in 104 BC and 102 BC between the Chinese Han dynasty and the Saka-ruled (Scythian) Greco-Bactrian kingdom known to the Chinese as Dayuan, in the F ...

. His supplies for his second sortie are described as being 100,000 cattle, 30,000 horses, and many mules and camels. Li besieged the city of Erh-shih (probably near

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

) to obtain certain fine horses of the Ferghana that had been demanded by the Han Empire but refused. He was given the title "General of Erh-shih" () in expectation of success. He diverted the river that supplied the inner city with water, and he "received three thousand horses in tribute." In 90 BC, when Li was campaigning in the north against the

Xiongnu Empire The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209& ...

, his wife was imprisoned in the capital after being involved in a political scandal involving their in-law Liu Qumao (one of Liu's sons had married one of the Li's daughters). Li sought a quick victory, hoping to win his wife's release. He overextended his army and was decisively defeated by a Xiongnu army of 50,000 led by their

Chanyu Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian nomads for eight centuries until superseded by the title "''Khagan''" in 402 AD. The title was most famously used by the ruling L ...

Hulugu. Li surrendered to the Xiongnu, and the Chanyu gave him his daughter for marriage. However, about a year later, he was executed, becoming a human sacrifice, after having a conflict with Wei Lü ( 衛律), another Han defector who was favoured by the Chanyu.

References

{{China-mil-bio-stub Year of birth unknown 88 BC deaths Executed Han dynasty people Executed people from Hebei Han dynasty generals Human sacrifice victims People from Baoding Xiongnu