Sun Wu and Sun Bin both lived in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and both of them wrote the art of war and wrote a book of war, which is easy to confuse the two of them. However, according to the relevant historical records of the birth time of the two people, the time of their birth is more than a hundred years apart, so it can be seen that although the two people are surnamed Sun, they are not the same person.
So, do the two of them have any origins? If so, what is the relationship between the two? Perhaps, we can find some answers from the introduction of the two of them.
The following is a brief introduction of Sun Bing: Sun Bing lived in the early Warring States period, and after calculation, it was probably around 400 BC, and the specific age could not be calculated. In fact, Sun Bing is not his real name, but because he was framed by Pang Juan and tortured, people called him "Sun Bing". As for his original name, there is nowhere to be found.
In fact, Sun Zhen and Pang Juan were brothers in the same division, and when they were young, they both studied together under the door of Oniguzi. However, later Pang Juan went out of the mountain first, while Sun Zhen stayed behind to continue to study and further study with Ghost Guzi. Later, the State of Wei sent someone to invite Sun Zhi out of the mountain, and Sun Zhi went down to the State of Wei to serve the King of Wei. However, at that time, Pang Juan, who was in the state of Wei, had already achieved little success and had a certain position in front of the King of Wei, and he was afraid that Sun Zhen would threaten himself after he came, so he deliberately framed Sun Zhi and caused Sun Zhen to suffer punishment.
After turning against his brothers and encountering misfortune, Sun Zhen secretly went to the State of Qi to serve the King of Qi.
Later, Sun Bing and Pang Juan met on the battlefield and both fought as military masters. After that, with a god-like military strategy, Sun Zhen beat the Wei army to pieces, and collapsed into an army, and finally, Pang Juan was also killed in the Battle of Maling. Later, when Sun Bin fled to the Chu State with Tian Ji, he concentrated on writing the book of soldiers, "The Art of War of Sun Bing", which not only became a masterpiece of the world, but also became a treasure in the ancient Chinese military books.
For Sun Wu, we often refer to him as "Sun Tzu", a native of the State of Qi. Later, when he arrived in the Kingdom of Wu, he defected to Wu Wanglu, and under the recommendation of Wu Zixu, he served Wu Wanglu, and was recognized and reused. After that, Wu Zixu and Sun Wu joined forces to contribute to King Wu and helped King Wu establish a generation of hegemony.
Of course, in addition to assisting King Wu in this achievement, Sun Wu is most praised for his "Sun Tzu's Art of War". This book can be said to be a military book that he has spent his life learning and devoted himself to compiling. The book has a total of thirteen chapters, in which many of the military ideas and military strategies written in it have been widely borrowed and successfully used by later generations, and for this reason, the book is regarded as the "Sacred Code of the Soldier Family".
In addition, when future generations led soldiers to fight, they were inseparable from Sun Tzu's Art of War. Even in the current military teaching, the study of Sun Tzu's Art of War is also very important, which is enough to see the application value of his book in military operations.
Moreover, it is precisely because Sun Wu summarized and summed up an exceptionally rich and multifaceted philosophical principle in the military that he established his juxtaposition with Confucius and LaoZi in the ideological circles of the late Spring and Autumn Period, and called him "three bright stars above the ideological circles of the late Spring and Autumn Period". In addition, now the "Art of War of Sun Tzu" is not only used in the military field, but also in the economic, sports and other aspects, have received widespread attention and application, which shows its value.
From the above introduction, it can be seen that although Sun Wu and Sun Bin were in the spring and autumn Warring States period, they belonged to different time periods and were not the same person. Then, the second question comes, both of them are surnamed Sun, and they are both militarily accomplished, so are these two people related? Whether there is a relationship between Sun Wu and Sun Zhen, we will continue to look down.
As mentioned earlier, according to the time of birth of the two people recorded in history, the two of them are indeed not the same person. However, both Sun Zhi and Sun Wu were surnamed Sun, and both had made achievements in the military field and were quite famous military experts. Therefore, there is a certain correlation between them.
So, what is the connection between the two of them?
The "History of Sun Wu Wu Qilie" only mentions that Sun Zhi's ancestor was Sun Wu, but it does not say who his father was. Later generations, after relevant historical research, Sun Bin is actually a descendant of Sun Wu, and to be precise, Sun Bin should be the fifth generation grandson of Sun Wu. Such a result is somewhat amazing, the Sun family is really talented, and they are all military wizards.
According to the relevant historical data "Genealogy of Sun Wu's Ancestral and Grandson Relations", Tian Shu passed on the second generation to Sun Wu, and Sun Wu had three sons, named Sun Chi, Sun Ming, and Sun Enemy. Among them, the second son Sun Ming gave birth to Sun Shun, Sun Shun gave birth to Sun Ji, and Sun Ji gave birth to Sun Cao, and this Sun Cao was the father of Sun Zhi and Sun Fu. Therefore, it can be deduced from this that Sun Bin should be the fifth generation grandson of Sun Wu.
However, according to the latest investigation, in the Village of Sun Laojiaban in Hongchuan Town, Zhencheng County, Shandong Province, it was found that there was a "Sun Family Tree" revised during the Qing Guangxu Period, and later found the "Sun Zhi Biography" during the Wanli Period and the "Sun Family Tree" during the Shunzhi Period. Later, two kinds of "Sun Clan Genealogy" were found in Yuncheng County, including the Kangxi Ben and the 1951 New Ben, especially the 1951 Combined Genealogy of More than a dozen Sun Villages of Zhen and Yun, all of which believed that Sun Wu was Sun Bing's grandfather.
However, although Sun Wu and Sun Zhi were both very famous military figures in ancient China, Sun Wu was still more famous than his five generations of grandsons. The reason for this is that Sun Wu compiled the famous book "Sun Tzu's Art of War", and is therefore regarded as the "originator of Oriental military science" and "the master of the soldier family". Moreover, Sun Wu was the first person in the history of ancient Chinese military science to write a book of soldiers, and was the pioneer of the field.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Sun Wu is more famous. And Sun Zhen, although his martial arts are also very good, and he also has his own strengths, but after all, he is a descendant, so it is also a very normal thing that the fame of the advanced scholar is slightly inferior to that of the founder.
Source: Yamakawa Bunksha Penguin