Bamboo slips reveal that Sun Bin's brutal behavior caused his knees to be dug up
The Battle of Maling was a historical conflict between Qi and Wei in the early Warring States period, in which Sun Bin's resourcefulness was vividly displayed, and Pang Juan was defeated in this battle.
This battle broke the historical pattern of Wei being strong and weak in the past, and to some extent, it was also a life-and-death struggle between the senior brothers Sun Bin and Pang Juan. Sun Bin and Pang Juan once studied together under Mr. Guiguzi, and the two traveled together in their leisure time and got along very happily.
However, although they are now their own masters, why do they have to put Pang Juan to death? Everything has its cause and effect, back then Pang Juan was jealous of Sun Bin's talent, framed him, and even dug out Sun Bin's kneecap at the behest of King Wei, this behavior can be said to be extremely cruel.
In the long history, there is no shortage of heroic ambitions. Sun Bin pretended to be crazy and stupid, but he did even more inhumane things for revenge. The bamboo slips unearthed from the hometown of Qi in Shandong recorded all this in detail, and also let people see the other side of Sun Bin's character.
In ancient China, the early Warring States period adopted a feudal system, which was partly due to the backward productivity and the weakening of the appeal of the Zhou royal family. Subsequently, the conflicts of interest and annexation wars between the princes intensified.
Eventually, in the late Spring and Autumn period, many small vassal states were annexed by the surrounding powers, and the Jin state was divided between Han, Zhao, and Wei. Wei is located in the Central Plains, with convenient transportation and developed culture, attracting many capable people from vassal states to seek fame.
Wei Wenhou vigorously used the famous general Wu Qi, who reformed the army and established an invincible army, Wei Wushu. Under Wu Qi's leadership, Wei Wushu was invincible, seizing large amounts of land from the powerful Qin and the eastern power of Qi, and gained fame.
And the state of Qi, which once dominated the princes and countries in the era of Duke Huan of Qi, collapsed at this time and has lost its former glory. Sun Bin and Pang Juan are from the Qi country, and when they were young, they studied together under the Guiguzi sect of the Zongheng family.
Guiguzi has cultivated many outstanding students in his life, the most well-known of which are Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Su Qin and Zhang Yi. After these four ** went down the mountain, they all made achievements in the princes and countries, affecting the pattern of the world.
And Pang Juan was the first to change history. He is a native of Wei and has a strong personality. Immediately after completing his studies, he went down the mountain to serve his country. King Wei Hui was thirsty for talents, and he was deeply moved by Pang Juan's speech, and immediately named him a general and reused him.
Pang Juan was overjoyed when he received the news, and immediately thought of his close junior brother Sun Bin. Sun Bin was very happy after receiving Pang Juan's letter, and despite Guiguzi's dissuasion, he resolutely decided to go to Daliang, the capital of Wei, to meet King Wei Hui.
Sun Bin is a descendant of Sun Wu, a master of the art of war of Qi, who has mastered the essence of the art of war since he was a child, and has studied under Guiguzi for many years. Coupled with Sun Bin's calm personality and resourcefulness, his insight and talent are naturally much higher than Pang Juan.
Although Pang Juan invited him to come out of good intentions, he didn't expect Sun Bin to be above him. Sun Bin only met King Wei Hui a few times, which made King Wei Hui love him.
King Wei Hui's respect for Sun Bin made Pang Juan jealous, and he took advantage of his familiar relationship with Sun Bin to forge secret letters and frame Sun Bin for collaborating with the enemy. After Sun Bin was wronged, Pang Juan disguised himself as a good person to intercede for him in order to get his ancestral art of war, resulting in Sun Bin being dug out of his kneecap.
However, Sun Bin did not forget his kindness to Pang Juan, and he promised to write the art of war, but the secret was discovered and told to him by the domestic servant.
In order to survive, Sun Bin pretended to be insane, endured humiliation, and was finally secretly brought back to Qi by the envoys of Qi. In the days of Qi State, Sun Bin was looking forward to revenge all the time, but the time was not yet ripe, so he could only wait patiently.
Pang Juan's death made Sun Bin's road to revenge long and difficult. During this time, he gained a foothold in the upper echelons of the Qi State with his wisdom and eloquence, and became the right-hand man of the general Tian Ji.
The Wei army, led by Pang Juan, fought everywhere to expand the territory of Wei. Finally, the opportunity that Sun Bin was waiting for came. Zhao attacked Wei and occupied Qi and Fuqiu, and Wei hurriedly asked for help from his ally Wei.
The Wei general Pang Juan led the invincible Wei warriors to easily surround Handan, the capital of Zhao. Zhao Guo fell into a panic and could only ask Qi and Chu for help.
The king of Qi ordered Tian Ji and Sun Bin to lead troops to save Zhao. Sun Bin suggested that Tian Ji not go directly to Zhao, but to besiege Daliang, the capital of Wei, to attract the Wei army back to his division, and then intercept them halfway.
When Pang Juan saw that the capital was besieged, he gave up attacking Zhao and turned to the rescue. In Guiling, the Qi army set up an ambush and successfully captured Pang Juan. After Pang Juan was released back to Wei, he became even more jealous and resentful of Sun Bin.
He thinks that Sun Bin is opportunistic, so he has always wanted to save face. Soon after, a war broke out between Korea and Wei, and Korea appealed to Qi for help. The king of Qi sent Sun Bin and Tian Ji to the expedition again.
Pang Juan, who was eager for revenge, fell for Sun Bin's plan to reduce the focus, and was then shot by the Qi army in Maling. At the end of the Battle of Maling, Wei lost its status as a great power, and Qi once again became a great power.
Sun Bin also gradually withdrew from the stage of history and chose to live in seclusion.
In the bamboo slips unearthed in Shandong, a shocking historical truth is revealed. In order to take revenge, Sun Bin actually sacrificed 20,000 soldiers of Qi to lure Pang Juan into the trap.
Sun Bin skillfully used the horse matchmaking strategy in the Tianji horse race and won the race. However, on the battlefield, he took advantage of Pang Juan's weakness and let the weak brigade of the Qi army lure Pang Juan.
Although Sun Bin was victorious, this practice at the cost of a large number of lives was condemned by later generations. In order to take revenge, Sun Bin endured and suppressed, which led to psychological distortion, regardless of the life and death of others, and reimbursed his own 20,000 horses at one time, which can be described as ruthless.
From this point of view, he cannot be considered a great military strategist.