Sun Bin
Military Strategist of Qi
"Reduce the cookfires each day, and the enemy will believe your army is melting away."
Biography
A descendant of the legendary Sun Tzu, Sun Bin studied strategy alongside Pang Juan — who, jealous of his talent, later lured him to Wei and had his kneecaps cut off and his face branded to destroy him (his name 'Bin' refers to the mutilation). Smuggled out to Qi in a merchant's cart, the crippled strategist rode in a covered carriage and directed Qi's armies from a position where his old betrayer could not see him. His two masterpieces both targeted Pang Juan's Wei: at Guiling (353 BC) he 'besieged Wei to rescue Zhao,' striking Wei's capital to draw its army home into an ambush; at Maling (342 BC) he faked mass desertion by reducing his cookfires, drew Pang Juan into a night pursuit, and destroyed the Wei army with massed crossbows — Pang Juan cut his own throat beneath a tree Sun Bin had inscribed with his enemy's death. His treatise, long thought lost, was rediscovered in a 1972 tomb, confirming him as one of history's great theorists of deception.
Did you know?
His military text, 'Sun Bin's Art of War,' was believed lost for 1,700 years until bamboo strips of it were unearthed at Yinqueshan in 1972.
Key Battles
Battle of Guiling
The Six Rival States victory354–353 BC · 40,000 total casualties
The classic demonstration of indirect strategy that made Sun Bin's reputation and Qi's power, and checked Wei's early bid for hegemony over the other states.
Battle of Maling
The Six Rival States victory342 BC · 100,000 total casualties
Maling shattered Wei's army for a generation and ended its dominance, leaving a vacuum that Qin in the west would relentlessly exploit. It is the archetype of the deception-and-ambush battle in the Chinese canon.
Life Journey
Timeline
c. 380 BC
🌅 Birth
Born in the state of Qi
353 BC
⚔️ Battle
Wins Guiling — 'besiege Wei to rescue Zhao'
342 BC
⚔️ Battle
Destroys Pang Juan's Wei army at Maling
c. 316 BC
✝️ Death
Dies in retirement in Qi