Sun Bin (died 316 BC) was a Chinese general,

military strategist A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, and writer who lived during the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

. A supposed descendant of

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...

, Sun was tutored in military strategy by the hermit Guiguzi. He was accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

Pang Juan Pang Juan (died 342 BC) was an ancient Chinese military general of the Wei state during the Warring States period. Life Early life Pang Juan was a fellow student of Sun Bin and both of them studied military strategy together under the tu ...

while serving Wei and punished by being branded and crippled. Sun escaped and became a strategist and commander for Qi, defeating Wei at the

Battle of Guiling The Battle of Guìlíng () was fought between the states of Qi and Wei in the Warring States period of Chinese history. In 354 BC, an army from Wei was laying siege to Handan, the capital of the State of Zhao. The next year, Zhao turned to Qi ...

and the

Battle of Maling The Battle of Maling () took place in Maling, currently Dazhangjia Town (), Shen County (), Henan Province, in 342 BC during the Warring States period (476–221 BC). The combatants were the State of Qi, who fought on behalf of the State of Ha ...

; Pang was killed at Maling. Sun's ''

Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compose ...

'' with the

Yinqueshan Han Slips The Yinqueshan Han Slips () are ancient Chinese writing tablets from the Western Han dynasty, made of bamboo strips and discovered in 1972. The tablets contain many writings that were not previously known or shed new light on the ancient versio ...

were discovered in 1972 after going missing for at least 1400 years.

Life

Early life and service in Wei

Sun Bin was allegedly a descendant of

. Sun Bin excelled while studying

military strategy Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired Strategic goal (military), strategic goals. Derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''strategos'', the term strategy, when first used during the 18th ...

under the hermit Guiguzi; he could recite ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compos ...

'' and identified by Guiguzi as a role model for other students.

, a fellow student, became Sun's

blood brother Blood brother can refer to two or more people not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, han ...

. Pang left to be a Wei general, and built a reputation through a few victories. Sun continued his studies until accepting a Wei recruitment offer and joining Pang. Pang considered Sun to be more talented and knowledgeable, and became jealous.

King Hui of Wei King Hui of Wei (; 400–319 BC), also known as King Hui of Liang (), personal name Wei Ying, was a monarch of the Wei (state), Wei state, reigning from 369 BC to 319 BC. He initially ruled as marquess, but later elevated himself to kingship in 34 ...

sentenced Sun to death after Sun was framed for treason by Pang. Pang convinced King Hui to commute the sentence; Sun was branded and crippled by having his kneecaps removed. Pang attempted to entice Sun to compile a book on military strategy with good treatment, with the intent of killing Sun afterwards. Eventually, Sun discovered Pang's intentions and feigned

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

. As a test, Pang locked Sun in a

sty A sty or pigsty is a small-scale outdoor enclosure for raising domestic pigs as livestock. It is sometimes referred to as a hog pen, hog parlor, pigpen, pig parlor, or pig-cote, although pig pen may refer to pens confining pigs that are kep ...

where the latter ate animal

faeces Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...

, calling them delicious. When Pang lowered his guard, Sun escaped with the help of Qi diplomats.

Service in Qi

Sun became a

retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA Retainer (A329), RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer p ...

(guest) to General

Tian Ji Tian Ji (), courtesy name Qi (齐), was a military general of the Qi (state), Qi state during the early Warring States period (4th century BC) of History of China, Chinese history. Tian Ji met Sun Bin and recommended him to King Wei of Qi as a mi ...

in Qi. Sun came to the attention of

King Wei of Qi King Wei of Qi (), personal name Tian Yinqi (田因齊), was a ruler of the Qi (state), Qi state, reigning from 356 BC to 320 BC, or according to another source from 378 BC to 343 BC. He was the first ruler of Qi to style himself "king". Life ...

during a racing competition, where Sun's advice allowed Tian to win two of the three rounds. Sun entered King Wei's on Tian's recommendation. King Wei appointed Sun as chief military advisor and Tian's deputy. Sun declined appointment as a commander since he could not ride a horse, due to his handicap, which would harm troop

morale Morale ( , ) is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, ...

. In 354 BC, a Wei army under Pang attacked Zhao and besieged the Zhao capital city of

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

. Zhao requested help from Qi, which dispatched an army led by Tian and Sun. The Qi army attacked the Wei capital city of Daliang (present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

) according to Sun's strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao". The Wei army withdrew from Handan to defend Daliang, and was ambushed and defeated by the Qi the

. In 342 BC, a Wei army led by Pang attacked Han, a Qi ally. Again, a Qi army deployed against the Wei led by Tian and using Sun's strategy. The Qi army feigned defeat in a series of skirmishes, while reducing the number of cooking stoves it used. The pursuing Wei overestimated Qi casualties based on the shrinking number of marks left by the stoves. At the

, the Qi ambushed and defeated the Wei in a narrow valley. The crown prince of Wei was captured, and Pang was killed. According to folklore, Sun carved "Pang Juan dies under this tree" on a tree in the ambush area. When Pang arrived, he lit a torch to examine the carving and was fired upon by the Qi using the light as a target; Peng was hit by multiple arrows and then committed suicide. Sun retired due to politics in the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

. He lived as a hermit in the later part of his life.

Works

Sun wrote the military treatise ''Sun Bin's Art of War'' (). The book was believed to be lost after the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, 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 ...

. Some historians doubted its existence as evidence was limited to references in post-contemporary texts. The

scroll fragments, recovered in 1972 from a tomb in

Linyi Linyi ( zh, s=临沂 , t=臨沂 , p=Línyí) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the eas ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, contained text from the ''Sun Bin's Art of War''. 16 chapters have been identified; historical texts attributed 89 chapters to the work. ''Sun Bin's Art of War'' includes sections related to the Battles of Guiling and Maling. A major difference between Sun Tzu's earlier ''

'' and ''Sun Bin's Art of War'' is in

siege warfare A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

. The former advises against it, and the latter - reflecting developments in the later stages of the

- contains advice for attacking besieged cities.

Legacy

Sun sometimes appears as a

Menshen ''Menshen'', or door gods, are divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk religions, used to protect against evil influences or to encourage the entrance of positive ones. They began as the divine pair Shenshu () and Yulü () under ...

(door god) in Chinese and

Taoist temple A Daoist temple (), also called a () or (), is a place where the Dao is observed and cultivated. It is a place of worship in Taoism. Taoism is a religion that originated in China, with the belief in immortality, which urges people to become i ...

s, usually paired with Pang. His rivalry with Pang is portrayed in the 2011 film '' The Warring States''. Sun is one of the 32 historical figures who appear as special characters in the video game ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI'', also known as ''Sangokushi 11'' (三國志11), is the 11th installment in the ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' (''Sangokushi'') grand strategy game series by Koei. The game was released for the PC on Marc ...

'' by

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its historical simulation games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based o ...

References

Lau, D. C. D. C. Lau (; 8 March 192126 April 2010) was a Chinese sinology, sinologist and author of the widely read translations of ''Daodejing, Tao Te Ching'', Mencius and ''The Analects'' and contributed to the Proper Cantonese pronunciation movement. D ...

and Ames, Roger T. ''Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare''. . * Sawyer, Ralph D. ''The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China''. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun Bin 316 BC deaths Ancient Chinese military writers Chinese amputees Chinese gods Deified Chinese men Generals from Shandong Generals of the Warring States period Military strategists People of Qi (state) People of Wei (state) Sun Tzu Writers from Shandong Year of birth unknown Zhou dynasty writers