Dou Xian was a famous general in the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was the great-grandson of Dou Rong, a famous minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who was once worshipped as a cheqi general, leading the Han army to the north to fight against the Northern Xiongnu, and breaking the Northern Xiongnu in Yuluoshan. After defeating the Northern Xiongnu, he climbed Mount Yanran and carved stones to record his merits, and Yanran Legong became the dream of many military generals in later generations. However, Dou Xian's Northern Expedition to the Northern Xiongnu was not initially for the sake of making meritorious achievements, but for atonement.
Dou Xian, because his sister was the empress of Emperor Zhangdi of Han, Dou Xian was given the title of Shizhong (侍中), the General of the Tiger Ben Zhonglang, and Dou Xian was powerful enough to buy princess Qinshui's fields at a low price, and Emperor Han Zhang, knowing this, rebuked Dou Xian fiercely and was no longer reused by Emperor Zhang of Han. After the death of Emperor Zhang of Han, the young Emperor He of Han ascended the throne, Empress Dou came to the regency of the dynasty, the power of the Dou family increased, and Dou Xian also participated in the decision-making of the government.
At that time, Liu Chang, the Marquis of Handu Township, came to mourn Emperor Zhang of Han, and Empress Dou was very optimistic about Liu Chang and summoned Liu Chang several times. Dou Xian, fearing that Liu Chang had divided his powers, sent assassins to kill Liu Chang, the Marquis of Duxiang, and blamed Liu Chang's younger brother Liu Gang (劉刚) and sent someone to interrogate Liu Gang. Later, when the truth was revealed, Empress Dowager Dou was furious and imprisoned Dou Xian in the palace.
Dou Xian was afraid of being killed, so he took the initiative to ask to lead troops to attack the Xiongnu and use military merit to atone for his sins. At this time, the Xiongnu had split into the Northern Xiongnu and the Southern Xiongnu, the Southern Xiongnu were close to the Han Dynasty, and the Northern Xiongnu were opposed to the Han Dynasty. At that time, it happened that the Southern Xiongnu requested the Han Dynasty to send troops to attack the Northern Xiongnu, so Empress Dou made Dou Xian the general of the Northern Expedition and defeated the Northern Xiongnu at Jiluo Mountain. After Dou Xian returned to the Han Dynasty, he thought that he had made a great contribution to the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, and he was even more arrogant, and his henchmen wanted to rebel. Later, when Emperor Han and Emperor He learned of it, he ordered dou xian's henchmen to be arrested and killed, and sent people to take back Dou Xian's grand general seal, change the title of champion marquis, let Dou Xian return to his fiefdom, and then be forced to commit suicide.