Sun Wu and Wu Zixu were figures of the same period, and both were famous military experts, but for posterity, Sun Wu's reputation was far greater than that of Wu Zixu, so what was Wu Zixu's ability?
The relationship between Sun Wu and Wu Zixu
Wu Zixu (武子胥), a famous official and zixu, was a doctor of the State of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period, and a famous military figure during the Spring and Autumn Period. Wu Zixu was originally a native of the Chu state, and his family had been a high-ranking official of the Chu state for generations, and because he was framed by the villain's design, his father and brother were all killed by the King of Chuping. At first, Wu Zixu fled to the State of Zheng, and later defected to the State of Wu, and seeing that Lu Lu, who was still the Duke of Wu at the time, had great ambitions, he helped Lu Lu to seize the throne, and did his best to assist King Wu.
Sun Wu,also spelled Changqing, was a famous military figure and politician during the Spring and Autumn Period. Sun Wu was able to be appreciated and reused by King Wu, and Wu Zixu's credit was indelible. In 512 BC, King Wu was preparing to march westward, and it was Wu Zixu who "recommended seven grandsons" to King Wu, which made King Wu agree to receive Sun Wu, who was famous all over the world. After Sun Wu left the State of Qi, after arriving in the State of Wu, he met Wu Zixu, who had taken refuge, and the two were very speculative, and since then they have become close friends.
Under the direct command of Sun Wu and Wu Zixu, after five battles, it took only ten days to capture the capital of the Chu state. The two used their respective strategies to help Wu Wang Lu complete the annexation war, and when Wu Wang Lu did not listen to Sun Wu's persuasion, he had to attack the newly enthroned Yue Wang, and as a result, Wu Guo was defeated, and After his death, fu Lu was angry and sick, the two helped Fu Lu's son Fu Cha to govern the country to train troops, defeat Gou Jian, and avenge his father Lu Lu. In Sun Wu's later years, Wu Zixu was killed by Fu Cha, and Sun Wu retired to the countryside, and shortly after Wu Zixu's death, Sun Wu also died. As for the reason for Sun Wu's death, there are historical records that he and Wu Zixu went to counsel together, which angered Fu Cha and killed him, or because he was a good friend of Wu Zixu, he was killed by Fu Cha Qian.
When it comes to Sun Wu, many people will think of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and Wu Sheng, compared to Sun Wu, Wu Zixu is much more low-key, in fact, he also wrote a very famous military book called "Wu Zixu", but it is now extinct.
Why sun Wu is more well-known than Wu Zixu
Wu Zixu and Sun Wu were similar figures of achievement in the same country at the same time, but why was Sun Wu so much more well-known than Wu Zixu in later generations?
First, because the prejudice of later generations of history against Wu Zixu was large, because Wu Zixu's act of whipping the corpse of King Chuping was unacceptable to many literati at that time. Therefore, it is difficult for the writers of later history books to judge him fairly, and he was finally executed by Wu Wangfu for treason, so on top of the history books of Wu Guo, he will definitely be ugly as much as possible in order to make The Wu King at that time happy.
Second, Sun Wu finally died of natural causes, and after helping Wu guo achieve a great victory, he resigned his official post and went into hiding, and began to sort out what he had learned in his life with peace of mind, which left a classic work on the art of war for future generations. On the other hand, Wu Zixu, after achieving great achievements in the military, began to enter politics and became an auxiliary minister. However, after a long period of mixed military service, he did not know much about the real way of being an official, and could not "meet the source left and right" well, which led to a miserable end later.
In fact, who is more powerful in the end, Wu Zixu and Sun Wu, we must compare from different aspects. In the way of survival, Sun Wu is much more powerful than Wu Zixu, which can be seen from the end of the two. However, when it comes to military and political achievements, Sun Wu is slightly inferior to Wu Zixu, and many of the revisions and improvements in the theory in Sun Tzu's Art of War were made when Sun Wu and Wu Zixu jointly commanded the army.
Source: Sohu News