As we all know, Sun Wu (孙武, Sun Wuzi) is a representative figure of the ancient Chinese warrior family, and is respected by later generations as a "soldier saint", and his "Sun Tzu Art of War" is also revered as the best of ancient Chinese martial arts. But it is interesting that since the Han Dynasty, some people have always suspected that The Soldier Saint Sun Wu (Sun Tzu) may be a fictional figure in later generations, and there is no such person in real history. Why?
Among the historical sources known today, the earliest record of Sun Wu's life and deeds can be found in Sima Qian's "History of Sun Zi Wu Qilie's Biography". However, the "Records of History" was written in the late Han Wudi period, more than three hundred years after the late Spring and Autumn Period where Sun Wu was located. In general, the later the historical data appears, the less credible it is. The Records of history do have some errors in the records of the Spring and Autumn Period.
In the pre-Qin literature and historical materials that are close to Sun Wu's time, only the "Wei Zizi" "There are those who mention thirty thousand people and the world is not dangling, who?" Takeko also". However, it is uncertain whether the "Wuzi" mentioned in "Wei Miaozi" is Sun Wu, and "Wei Miaozi" was written at the end of the Warring States period. The most credible Spring and Autumn historical material, Zuo Zhuan, records the Battle of Wu Chubaiju, but there is not a single word about Sun Wu.
Sima Qian's account of Sun Wu is also problematic, such as the year of Sun Wu's birth and death is not recorded at all, and Sun Wu's deeds at the Battle of Baiju are very vague (so He Lu knew that Sun Tzu could use troops, and he thought he was a general. Western Breaking Qiang Chu, Entering Yin, Northern Wei Qi Jin, Prominent Princes, Sun Tzu and Powerful Yan) and so on. Judging from the historical records, the records of Sun Wu's deeds are vague and lowly credible.
In addition to historical records, there are also some strange places in the "Art of War of Sun Tzu", such as "The Art of War of Sun Tzu" was basically created in the tone of military critics, while Sun Wu was a military commander in the traditional theory. For example, the "Art of War of Sun Tzu" that we can see now is the version that has been sorted out by Han Xin, Zhang Liang, Cao Cao and others, and it is already difficult to judge which are Sun Wu's original writings.
It is precisely because Sun Wu's life records and "Sun Tzu's Art of War" have the possibility of being modified by later generations, so some people suspect that Sun Wu may be a fictional character in later generations. Some people believe that Sun Wu is a fictional character based on Wu Zixu in the Bing family, and some views believe that Sun Wu and Wu Zixu are one person. But these views are also insufficient evidence to overturn Sun Wu's real traditional views.