Sun Bin (Chinese: 孫臏; pinyin: Sūn Bìn; died 316 BC) was a military strategist who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Events By place Macedonian Empire Eumenes and Antigonus, rivals to Cassander for control of Macedonia meet in the Battle The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Born in Qi, he was a member of a local Sun family famed for producing military strategists. Qi ( 齊; Pinyin: Qí was a powerful state during the Spring and Autumn Period and Period of the Warring States. He is considered a descendant of Sun Tzu, and may have helped edit The Art of War. Sun Tzu ( ("Master Sun" also called Sun Wu ( is traditionally considered to be the author of The Art of War (also simply called the The Art of War ( is a Chinese military Treatise that was written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. He also wrote his own military treatise, the Sun Bin Bing Fa, that was recently rediscovered after being lost for almost 2000 years.
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Life
Sun Bin was recognized for his military brilliance at an early age which he studied as a student of Master Guiguzi, a hermit who is skilled in military strategies, Sun Bin managed to recite Sun Tzu's Art of War by heart, which made Master Guiguzi remark that he was a learned man which all his other disciples could match up towards. Pang Juan, a fellow student who was jealous of Sun Bin, plotted to bring Sun Bin to ruin. During those days, the kingdom of Wei needed a military commander skilled in military strategies, King Hui appointed Pang as a minister in Wei, Pang Juan enticed Sun Bin to go to Wei, then plotted to ruin Sun Bin. The following details the state of Wei of the Warring States Period. Sun Bin was mutilated, having his kneecaps removed; bin is a reference to the knees or the practice of mutilation by removing one's knees. Mutilation or maiming is an act or physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of the (human body usually without causing death In ancient China, mutilation was an ignominious event and generally caused a person to be shunned by society for life; after the mutilation, Sun Bin's career should have effectively been over.
Sun Bin later escaped to Qi by help from his friend. His military skills were recognized, and he came to serve under King Wei. He formed a strong partnership with the head military commander Tian Ji. Sun Bin could not be the head military commander of the Qi army, even though Tian Ji and the King had begged him to, for his mutilated legs could not allow him to ride on horseback, a practise all commanders had to undertake. So, both Tian Ji and the King decided to make him head advisor of the army. Tian Ji also managed to convince the King to create a rule stating all commands given by Sun Bin had to be obeyed, even though the commands didn't have to be. This was exactly how skilled and respected Sun Bin was, mainly because he memorized the book "The Art of War".
The pair defeated the state of Wei (not to be confused with King Wei) at the Battle of Guiling against forces led by Pang Juan. The following details the state of Wei of the Warring States Period. The Battle of Guìlíng (桂陵之戰 was fought between the states of Qí and Wèi in the Warring States period of Chinese history. When Tian Ji was banished from Qi due to court politics, Sun Bin followed him into exile to Chu. Chǔ ( 楚) was a kingdom in what is now central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period ( 722 - 481 BC) and After Sun Bin sent letters to the King, he immediately recalled Tian Ji and Sun Bin. Sun Bin and Tian Ji later defeated Wei again at the Battle of Maling. The following details the state of Wei of the Warring States Period. The Battle of Maling (馬陵之戰 was conducted in Maling currently Dazhangjia Town (大張家鎮 Shen County (莘县 Henan Province, in 342 BC during He later resigned from his job and became a hermit preventing himself to succumb to Premier Zou Ji's political persecution.
Sun Bin Bing Fa
The Sun Bin Bing Fa is considered to be a text of military treatise written by Sun Bin. Sun Bin's Art of war (孫臏兵法 written by Sun Bin (孫臏 is among one of the famed military classics in China similar to "Sun Tzu's The Art of War which After the Han Dynasty, this text was considered to be lost. The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. Although there were numerous references to the Sun Bin Bing Fa from post-contemporary texts, some historians later came to believe that the text was never written or simply a forgery. In April of 1972, archaeologists discovered a tomb in Linyi, Shandong Province, that contained several fragments of important scrolls buried during the Han Dynasty. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Administration The Prefecture-level city of Linyi administers 12 county-level divisions, including 3 districts and 9 counties The Yinqueshan Han Slips ( are ancient Chinese writing tablets made of bamboo strips and were discovered in 1972 Among the scrolls was a copy of the Sun Bin Bing Fa.
Although ancient texts mention that the original Sun Bin Bing Fa contained 89 chapters, the rediscovered copy contains only sixteen verifiable chapters. Since the tomb also contained fragments of the Art of War, some chapters might actually be lost chapters from the Art of War instead.
The newly discovered text provides historians with a different perspective on the Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling. In addition, the Sun Bin Bing Fa shows one major strategic divergence from the Art of War; while Sun Tzu advised against siege warfare, the Sun Bin Bing Fa contains numerous stratagems for assaulting a sieged city. This paralleled a shift in strategic consideration of siege warfare during the later stages of the Warring States Period.
See also
References
- The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. The Yinqueshan Han Slips ( are ancient Chinese writing tablets made of bamboo strips and were discovered in 1972 Sawyer, Ralph D. ISBN 0-8133-1228-0
- Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare. Lau, D. C. and Ames, Roger T. ISBN 0-345-37991-8
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