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Discovering China - Sun Bin's Art of War

"For those who have really mastered the way of warfare, his enemy can do nothing to escape death." This statement comes from Sun Bin—the ancient Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher from China's Warring States Period. From an early age, Sun Bin showed great talent. He studied military strategy from the ancient Chinese philosopher Guiguzi (鬼谷子). The story has it that Sun Bin was able to recite every character of Sun Zi's Art of War treatise and other Chinese classics. Consequently, his classmate—Pang Juan—was secretly jealous him. Pang became a military general for King Hui of Wei state and persuaded Sun to join him. Pang then framed Sun Bin as a traitor. Sun was subsequently punished with the character "traitor" tattooed on his face—a criminal labeling in ancient China. His kneecaps were removed, crippling him for the rest of his life. Sun Bin eventually managed to escape, with the help of envoys from the Qi state. He became the chief military advisor for the king of Qi state. Using his military genius, Sun Bin defeated his former classmate, Pang Juan, at the famous Battle of Guiling and the Battle of Maling. Pang took his own life after the arrows from the Qi Army wounded him. Sun is believed to be the author of Sun Bin's Art of War—an ancient Chinese classic work on philosophy and military strategy. This is not to be confused with Sun Zi's Art of War. The identity of the two Suns has baffled many historians. While some records alleged that Sun Bin was a descendent of Sun Zi, other historians believed that the two might be the same person. According to ancient texts, Sun Bin's Art of War original treatise had 89 chapters and four volumes of diagrams. All these were lost towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. But in 1972, nearly 2,000 years later, fragments of Sun Bin's Art of War treatise—written on bamboo slips—were discovered from an archaeological site at Yinqueshan, or Silver Sparrow Mountain, in Shandong province. This discovery confirmed that both Suns existed in history—both had written a military treatise. Translated from the recovered bamboo strips, Sun Bin's book has three parts. Part 1 comprises 16 chapters, starting with "Capturing Pang Juan," conversations and questions from the king of Qi state. Other chapters focus on selection of troops, use of topographies, the eight battle formations, sacrifice in battle, and ways to boost and sustain soldiers' morale. Part 2 of the book has 15 additional chapters on various topics such as, military formations, tactics on crushing an army unit, and military mistakes. Several chapters are dedicated to the discussions on the ideal qualities of the commander, weaknesses, and fatal mistakes made by the commander, while the third part of the book covers writings from other historical sources. Today, Sun Bin's Art of War is one of the essential books on classical Chinese military philosophy and strategy. Margaret Trey, PhD.