Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's Art of War were unearthed from Yinque Mountain in Linyi County, Shandong Province.
Archaeological discoveries:
In April 1972, two tombs from the early Western Han Dynasty were discovered during infrastructure construction in Yinqueshan, Linyi County, Shandong Province. After cleaning by cultural relics and archaeologists, more than 4,900 bamboo slips (including fragments) were unearthed, including the famous "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Sun Bin's Art of War" that had been lost for more than a thousand years.
The unearthing of this batch of bamboo slips provides important information for the study of ancient pre-Qin military thought. It is also valuable for the study of ancient philology, the evolution of official script and calligraphy. A total of 4,942 bamboo slips were unearthed from the coffin in Tomb No. 1, most of which were military books, including "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Sun Bin's Art of War."
According to Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Biography of Sun Tzu Wu Qi": Sun Bin. A native of Qi State (now in Shandong Province), he is a descendant of Sun Wu. Sun Wu and Sun Bin each had their own military techniques handed down from generation to generation. Sun Wu, the existing author of "Sun Tzu's Art of War", was a guest of the King of Wu in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Sun Bin was the military advisor of King Qi Wei in the middle of the Warring States Period.
His birth and death years ranged from approximately 380 BC to 320 BC. The works of pre-Qin thinkers often use their surnames as titles.
In order to distinguish the works of Sun Wu and Sun Bin, Ban Gu (AD 32-92) called Sun Wu's art of war "Wu Sun Tzu's Art of War" and Sun Bin's art of war in "Hanshu Yiwenzhi". Sun Tzu's Art of War".
"Wu Sun Tzu's Art of War" or "Sun Tzu's Art of War" has been passed down to this day, while "Qi Sun Tzu's Art of War" or "Sun Bin's Art of War" was lost in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since the Song Dynasty, some people believe that "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is not the work of Sun Wu; some people are even skeptical about whether Sun Wu is actually a person;
Many people believe that the existing "Sun Tzu's Art of War" may have originated from It was originated from Sun Wu and completed by Sun Bin. It is a summary of long-term war experience from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the middle Warring States Period. It is not the work of one person. The picture shows the bamboo slips mixed with sediment when they were unearthed. Since "Sun Bin's Art of War" was lost, the above-mentioned mysterious cases could not be solved for a long time.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Sun Bin's Art of War" were unearthed at the same time in 1972, which solved this long-standing debate.