Ming Chi Chapter - Chinese Historical Stories

Author: Xu Min
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Story 1
Lǐ Líng was the great-grandson of the Western Han general Lǐ Guǎng. After growing up and joining the army, he was skilled in horseback riding and archery, and loved his soldiers, embodying much of the legacy of his grandfather, the Flying General.
Emperor Wǔ of Han believed that the Lǐ family had a tradition of producing talented military leaders, so he appointed Lǐ Líng as the commander of a cavalry unit with eight hundred horses. Lǐ Líng was extremely brave and once led his cavalry deep into the territory of the Xiongnu, over two thousand miles away, to gather intelligence. The emperor appointed him as a cavalry general, commanding five thousand people from Dányáng to defend Jiǔquán and Zhāngyè from Xiongnu invasions.
In the autumn of the second year of the Tian Hàn era, Lǐ Líng was ordered to cooperate with the General of the Second Master, Lǐ Guǎnglì, in attacking the Right Prince of the Xiongnu. Lǐ's unit was used as a decoy in the military strategy, surrounded by eight hundred thousand enemy troops. Lǐ Líng led his soldiers in battle for eight consecutive days, running out of weapons and ammunition, with more than half of the five thousand soldiers killed or wounded and no food left. The enemy kept pouring in, but Lǐ's unit received no reinforcements. Under the relentless siege and the call to surrender, Lǐ Líng sighed to the sky: "I have no face to report to the emperor for his grace!" and then surrendered. At that time, there was not a single soldier who could stand by his side. Only about four hundred soldiers who scattered and escaped back to the Han dynasty.
The Xiongnu Khan had long admired the reputation of the Lǐ family and personally experienced the bloody battle with Lǐ Líng. Out of respect, he married his daughter to Lǐ Líng and enfeoffed him as a noble.
When the Han dynasty learned of this, they killed Lǐ Líng's mother and children.
From then on, the reputation of the Lǐ family completely collapsed. The men in Lǒngxī were deeply ashamed of having such a person from their hometown and no longer mentioned the Lǐ family in their conversations.
——《Records of the Grand Historian》
Old Horse's Commentary
To be a man of the Han dynasty is to die as a ghost of the Han dynasty. In this sense, Lǐ Líng should be considered a traitorous general. Not only did the famous warrior compromise and live on, but he also became the husband of the Xiongnu princess, bringing great disgrace to his homeland. Therefore, Emperor Wǔ killed his mother and wife as a warning to others. However, Sima Qian believed that Lǐ Líng's surrender was forced and that the court's actions were excessive. This defense enraged the emperor, who castrated Sima Qian. But in the wars between the Xiongnu and the Han dynasty, Lǐ Líng refused to offer any advice and did not face the Han army. This traitor indeed had a tragic fate.