Sun Bin (孫臏; pinyin: Sūn Bìn; d. 316 BC) was a military strategist who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. Born in Qi, he was a member of a local Sun family famed for producing military strategists. He is considered a descendant of Sun Tzu, and may have helped edit the Art of War. He also wrote his own military treatise, the Sun Bin Bing Fa, that was recently rediscovered after being lost for almost 2000 years. Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 321 BC 320 BC 319 BC 318 BC 317 BC 316 BC 315 BC 314 BC 313... Alternative meaning: Warring States Period (Japan) The Warring States Period (Traditional Chinese: 戰國時代; Simplified Chinese: 战国时代; Pinyin: Zhànguó Shídài) covers the period from sometime in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the Qin in 221 BC. It is nominally considered to be the second part... State of Qi (small seal script, 220 BC) See Qi (disambiguation) for other meanings of Qi. Qi (齊; pinyin: qi2) was a relatively powerful state during the Spring and Autumn Period and Period of the Warring States. ... Sun Tzu (孫子 also commonly written in pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) was the author of The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy (for the most part not dealing directly with tactics). ... The Art of War (Chinese: 孫子兵法 sūn zi bīng fǎ) was a Chinese military text written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. ...

Life

Sun Bin was recognized for his military brilliance at an early age. Pang Juan, a fellow student who was jealous of Sun Bin, plotted to bring Sun Bin to ruin. Appointed as a minister in Wei, Pang Juan enticed Sun Bin to go to Wei, then plotted to ruin Sun Bin. Sun Bin was mutilated, having his kneecaps removed; bin is a reference to the knees or the practice of mutiliation by removing one's knees. 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. The following details the state of Wei of the Warring States Period. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Disfigurement. ...

Sun Bin later escaped to Qi. His military skills were recognized, and he came to serve under King Wei. He formed a strong partnership with the military commander Tian Ji. They defeated the state of Wei (not to be confused with King Wei) at the Battle of Guiling against forces led by Pang Juan. When Tian Ji was banished from Qi due to court politics, Sun Bin followed him into exile to Chu. After King Wei died, the new king of Qi, King Xuan, 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 GuìLíng (桂陵之戰) was fought between the states of Qí and Wèi in the Warring States period of Chinese history. ... State of Chu (small seal script, 220 BC) Chu (楚) was a kingdom in what is now southern China during the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BCE) and Warring States Period (481-212 BCE). ... The following details the state of Wei of the Warring States Period. ... The Battle of Maling was a battle between the states of Qi and Wei in the warring states period. ...

Sun Bin Bing Fa

The Sun Bin Bing Fa is considered to be a text of military treatise written by Sun Bin. After the Han Dynasty, this text was considered to be lost. 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. Among the scrolls was a copy of the Sun Bin Bing Fa. Later Han redirects here. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Linyi (simplified Chinese: 临沂; traditional Chinese: 臨沂; pinyin: Línyí) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Yinqueshan Han Slips (Chinese: ; pinyin: Yínquèshān Hànjiǎn) were discovered in 1972 in Tomb no. ...

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. A siege is a prolonged military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ...

See also

• Yinqueshan Han Slips

The Yinqueshan Han Slips (Chinese: ; pinyin: Yínquèshān Hànjiǎn) were discovered in 1972 in Tomb no. ...

References

• The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. 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