Sun Wu, nicknamed Changqing, whose life story was first seen in "Historical Records: Biography of Sun Tzu Wu Qi", was a descendant of Chen Wan, the son of Chen Guogong, the grandson of Sun Shu, and the son of Sun Ping. As a representative of military strategists in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Wu was revered by later generations as Sun Tzu, a military sage, and the originator of military science.
Sun Wu was born into a noble family in Qi State. Influenced by his family environment, he had read military books since he was a child and was very interested in military affairs. In addition, Sun Wu lived in an era where wars were frequent and vassal states merged with each other, which allowed him to gradually form his own war theory. However, the state of Qi where Sun Wu lived was full of internal conflicts, and the situation was already precarious. Sun Wu felt that the situation in Qi was over, and he was very resistant to the internal power struggle and did not want to get involved. So he had the idea of going abroad, hoping to find his own stage to display his talents.
At that time, the Wu State in the south allied with Jin to attack Chu. The country was strong and had great potential to rise. Sun Wu believed that the State of Wu was the place where he could realize his ambition, so he resolutely left the State of Qi and traveled a long distance to join the State of Wu. The important events in Sun Wu's life all took place in the State of Wu, and he was buried in the State of Wu after his death. Therefore, Sun Wu has always been called a "Wu man" in history.
Sun Wu met Wu Zixu, a famous minister of Chu State, on the outskirts of Wudu (now Suzhou City). Wu Zixu was forced to exile to the state of Wu because of his family's involvement. He is also a very ambitious young man, hoping to make a difference in the Kingdom of Wu and avenge his family in the future. After the two got acquainted, they found that they had a similar spirit and became close friends. Sun and Wu hid in the market of Wu State, waiting for the opportunity to meet the King of Wu.
In the twenty-seventh year of Lu Zhaogong (515 BC), after Wu Guohelu came to power, he appointed a group of virtuous ministers, including Wu Zixu. Helu was considerate of the people's sentiments, paid attention to agricultural production, stored grain, built roads and cities, and trained the army. For a time, the people of Wu were inspired and prosperous. Helu was determined to strengthen Wu and conquer Chu. All this was seen by Sun Wu, so he lived in seclusion, irrigating gardens and farming, while writing about the art of war. His masterpiece "The Art of War" was written at this time.
The series of effective governance policies adopted by Helu made Sun Wu realize that he was an accomplished monarch. Soon, Sun Wu dedicated the thirteen chapters of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" to the King of Wu through Wu Zixu. King Helu of Wu admired it greatly after reading it and said: "I have read all the thirteen chapters of Zi." Later, in order to test his military management ability, Helu ordered Sun Wu to "try to rein in the troops". In order to increase the difficulty of the test, King Wu asked: "Can women be used for the test?" Sun Wu replied without hesitation: "Yes." So King Wu sent 180 beauties from the palace to let Sun Wu practice the formation.
In the end, King Wu's problem did not stump Sun Wu. Under the command of Sun Wu, the "army" composed of palace maids "behaved well". This is the widely circulated story of "Wu Gong teaches war". Although Sun Wu's drill was very successful, the King of Wu didn't appreciate it and wanted to send him away with the words "The general will give up, but I don't want to watch". Sun Wu was not polite and accused the King of Wu to his face of "only good words, but not the truth", which made the King of Wu extremely ashamed. In the end, the King of Wu, who knew people well and was good at appointing people, worshiped Sun Wu as his general, making Sun Wu his effective general.
The thirteen articles of "The Art of War" presented by Sun Wu are less than 6,000 words in total, which is less than the number of words of an undergraduate's bachelor's thesis today. However, it mentions strategies and tactics for defeating the enemy, which is almost unsurpassed in military theory. of classics. When Sun Wu recommended himself to the King of Wu, he once said: "If you will listen to my plan, you will win if you use it, so keep it; if you will not listen to my plan, if you use it, you will lose, so get rid of it." This is because he is very confident in his talent. , also affirms the value of "Sun Tzu's Art of War".
At the beginning of taking office, Sun Wu's outstanding military talents began to emerge. At that time, if the State of Wu wanted to expand, it had to first eliminate a strong opponent, the State of Chu. King Wu was not completely sure about this. At this time, Sun Wu proposed to eliminate Chu's protectorate first, and then look for opportunities to attack Chu. His strategy was adopted by King Wu. Under the leadership of Sun Wu, the Wu army quickly eliminated the two protectorates of Chu - Zhongwu State and Xu State. At this time, the King of Wu, who was in the joy of victory, wanted to take the opportunity to attack and capture Chu in one fell swoop, but he was opposed by Sun Wu. Because after some calm thinking at this time, Sun Wu felt that Wu's army was very tired and should not continue fighting, otherwise he would suffer heavy losses. After hearing this, King Wu thought it was reasonable and led his troops back to his country. After that, the State of Wu adopted Wu Zixu's strategy of "tiring Chu and mistaking Chu" and only harassed the State of Chu but did not attack, so that the State of Chu gradually relaxed its vigilance towards the State of Wu.
If Sun Wu's previous victories were just his budding performance, then the subsequent "big defeat of the Chu army" proved that he was worthy of being an outstanding military strategist. In the fourth year of Duke Dinggong of Lu (506 BC), Cai, the protector of Wu, was attacked by Chu. It was so weak that it had to ask Wu for help. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the King of Wu personally led 30,000 Wu troops to the Chu Kingdom, accompanied by his younger brothers Fugai, Wu Zixu, Sun Wu, Bo Pi and others. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was also fighting with him. In order to win in a short period of time, Sun Wu adopted a strategy of avoiding the real situation and taking advantage of the weak. With the assistance of Cai and Tang, he led 3,500 elite soldiers to advance in a roundabout way and quickly conquered three key areas in the northern part of Chu State. land and reached the east bank of Han River. King Chu Zhao was shocked when he heard the news, and quickly sent his generals Shen Yinxu, Xiangwa and others to send troops to resist the Wu army.
After some deliberation, Shen Yinxu decided that Xiangwa would hold back the main force of the Wu army, while he himself would be responsible for attacking from the rear, forming a front-to-back attack on the Wu army. This was originally a strategy that could kill Wu Jun, but changes occurred during the implementation process. Xiangwa, who was eager for quick success, took the lead in attacking the Wu army without waiting for Shen Yinxu to attack the Wu army from behind. Seeing this, Sun Wu adopted the strategy of retreating to advance and retreated to the Dabie Mountains. The Chu army, who thought they had the upper hand, took the opportunity to launch multiple attacks, but all ended in disastrous defeats and a decline in morale. Seeing that the Chu army was exhausted, Sun Wu decided to launch a general attack on the Chu army and had a decisive battle with the Chu army Yu Baiju. At the same time, King Wu's brother Fugai privately led 5,000 soldiers to attack the Chu army. The Chu army was in chaos. Seeing this, King Wu took the opportunity to invest the main force, and the Chu army retreated one after another. The Wu army took advantage of the victory to pursue it, and defeated the remnants of the Chu army at Qingfashui and Yongxi southwest of Baiju.
After hearing the news, Shen Yinxu led troops from Fangcheng to rescue him, but he was unable to save his life. He was severely attacked by the Wu army. Shen Yinxu was also defeated and died. After that, the state of Wu defeated the Chu army again in Maicheng. After five battles and five victories, the State of Wu successfully destroyed the State of Chu. This was the famous "Battle of Baiju" in history. "Historical Records: Biography of Sun Tzu Wu Qi" contains: "(Wu Kingdom) defeated the powerful Chu in the west and entered Ying; it defeated Qi and Jin in the north and became famous among the princes. Sun Tzu and Wu Qi were powerful!" Entering Ying refers to the battle of Baiju. In this battle, Sun Wu destroyed his powerful opponent Chu with only 30,000 Wu troops. He also relied on this battle to become famous and powerful in all directions. His outstanding military talents were also fully demonstrated in this battle.
After the death of Wu King Helu, Sun Wu and Wu Zixu continued to use their talents to help Helu's son Fucha govern the country and train troops, and helped him defeat Goujian.
As Wu's hegemony grew, Fu Chai gradually became self-righteous and refused to accept honest advice. He listened to the instigation of the treacherous officials and not only ignored Wu Zixu's bitter remonstrances, but also made excuses to force him to commit suicide. Sun Wu was well aware of the principle that "when the birds are gone, a good bow is hidden; when a cunning rabbit dies, the running dogs are cooked". He was very disappointed by Wu Zixu's tragic death, so he quietly retreated to the mountains to revise the art of war and make it more perfect.
There is no record of Sun Wu's later life in the history books. His death year and burial place are just legends, and there is no historical record for them.
war mystery books
"The Art of War" is a classic and far-reaching military work in Chinese history. It was ranked first in the "Seven Books of Martial Arts" series of art of war issued by the Northern Song Dynasty as an official book. It is also the oldest existing military book in the world. The book is filled with many wise strategic ideas.
It is said that after the defeat of Waterloo, Napoleon accidentally saw "The Art of War" translated by a missionary during his boring imprisonment, and said sadly: "If I could have read this book twenty years ago, history would have been rewritten!" Mark McNeely, author of "Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare," wrote in the book: ""Sun Tzu's Art of War" is a must-read book for high-level military academies and has been integrated into the military doctrines of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. "
The full text of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" has a total of more than 5,000 words, divided into thirteen chapters. "Gui" talks about temple calculations, which is the outline of the whole book. That is, before sending troops, one must compare the conditions of the enemy and ourselves, estimate the possibility of victory or defeat, and formulate a battle plan. "Combat" is mainly about mobilization before war. "Strategic Attack" emphasizes being smart, not using force arbitrarily, but using various means to defeat the enemy. "Shape" and "Position" talk about objective factors and subjective factors that determine the outcome of a war. "Virtual Reality" talks about how to create a situation in which we are strong and the enemy is inferior through the strategy of dispersion, assembly, encirclement and roundabout, and finally win with more than less. "Military Struggle" talks about how to seize the advantage of the battle. "Nine Changes" talks about generals adapting to circumstances and formulating different strategies and tactics. "March" talks about how to camp and observe the enemy's situation during the march. "Terrain" is about six different combat terrains and corresponding tactical requirements. "Nine Places" talks about nine combat environments and their tactical requirements in a "host-object" situation. "Fire Attack" talks about how to use fire skillfully in attack. "Yongjian" is the cooperative use of spies during the war.
"The Art of War" is a genius product that combines ancient Chinese military thought and combat experience. It is the master of ancient military theories. It is the earliest, most complete and most famous military work handed down in ancient my country. It has played an important role in the military history of China and the world. All occupy an important position.
However, who is the author of "The Art of War" and whether it is Sun Wu, the general of Wu State, this question has always troubled historians.
The ancient books "Shang Jun Shu" and "Han Feizi" both mentioned that "The Book of Sun Wu" refers to "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Wu Zi's Art of War", but they did not indicate that the author was Sun Wu. It was not until the publication of "Historical Records" that Sima Qian clearly stated that "The Art of War" was written by Sun Wu.
Due to Sima Qian's rigorous writing, later generations have no doubt that "Sun Tzu's Art of War was written by Sun Wu". However, scholars Chen Zhensun and Ye Shi of the Song Dynasty questioned this: Was "Sun Tzu" really written by Sun Wu? Is there really a Sun Wu in history? Yao Jiheng, a native of the Qing Dynasty, also agreed with his statement and believed that "The Art of War" was a forgery. However, "Book of Han·Yi Wen Zhi" records that the ancient art of war includes "Bin Sunzi" (Sun Bin) and "Wu Sunzi" (Sun Wu). Sun Bin and Sun Wu are clearly distinguished from each other in their person and work, which is not suspicious. Song Lian's "Zhuzi Bian" in the Ming Dynasty and "Sikuquanshu General Catalog" in the Qing Dynasty believe that Tai Shigong is a serious historian. His records and statements are accurate and reliable. The events of Sun Wu and Sun Bin described in this biography are clear.
In addition, there is an opinion in the historians that "The Art of War" was jointly written by Sun Wu and his disciples. This is exactly the same as the creation method of "The Analects of Confucius", that is, Sun Wu lectured and taught military scholarship to his disciples, and his disciples listened to the records and passed them down from generation to generation. Finally, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, this rich and relatively complete system was gradually formed. Works on the Art of War.
Sun Tzu and Confucius were born in the same era, but in the face of disputes between princes, one chose to improve his self-cultivation from within and educate the people with his thoughts; the other chose to enhance his own strength from the outside and defeat his opponents with strategies. Therefore, later generations said that people should learn from Confucius and conduct themselves from Sun Tzu.
Sun Tzu's wisdom in life is mainly reflected in the use of strategy: "In strategizing, a decisive victory can be achieved thousands of miles away", teaching people to grasp the unknowable future; "Subduing the enemy's army without fighting is a good thing", teaching people to use the minimum cost Achieve the greatest results; "Thus, those who are good at fighting can help others without harming others." Teach people to take the initiative at any time...
Due to its far-reaching influence, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" has so far been translated into more than a dozen languages including English, French, German, and Russian, and has been widely circulated around the world. In Japan, there are even more than 100 researchers who study "Sun Tzu's Art of War" Publishing of books. Nowadays, the wisdom of military strategist Sun Tzu in handling war in "The Art of War" has been widely used in various aspects such as military, politics, diplomacy, etc., and has even been used by many entrepreneurs in business management and market competition.
