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During the Western Han Dynasty, Li Guang, a zhonglangjiang (a military official), served as the governor of Shanggu on the frontier. He was brave and skilled in battle, causing the Xiongnu to call him "the Flying General," and they were terrified of him.
Throughout his life, he was not given significant responsibilities and was never granted the title of marquis, eventually being forced to commit suicide. Many of his subordinates were enfeoffed as marquises for their military achievements.
Ancient people believed odd numbers were unlucky. Sima Qian commented, "Li Guang was old, and his luck was unfortunate."

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Open the tool →李广不侯 (lǐ guǎng bù hòu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to lament that one's great achievements are not rewarded with appropriate rank or title, often implying an unfortunate fate or bad luck despite significant contributions”.
李广不侯 is pronounced lǐ guǎng bù hòu in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 李广不侯 means “Li Guang not enfeoffed as a marquis”. It is used to mean “to lament that one's great achievements are not rewarded with appropriate rank or title, often implying an unfortunate fate or bad luck despite significant contributions”.
李广不侯 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
以之慨叹功高不爵,命运乖舛。同“李广未封”。