Sun Bin Bing Fa (Sun Bin Art of War), a famous book on military tactics in ancient China, was another masterpiece of the Sun Zi School after Sun Zi Bing Fa (Sunzi Art of War). This book, called Qi Sun Zi in ancient times, was written by Sun Bin, who was said to be a descendant of Sun Wu. Among the military commanders in the Warring States Period (475-221BC), Sun Bin was famous for his tactics. He and Wu Qi were renowned militarists of that time.

The earliest record of Sun Bin's military tactics was found in the Shi Ji (The Records of the Great Historian). Based on research, reportedly Sun Bin's book became lost approximately before the Tang Dynasty (618-907), with no sign of it surfacing for over a thousand years.

Amazingly, however, in February 1972, the book in the form of bamboo slips was discovered in the No.1 Tomb of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) in the Yinque Mountain in Linyi of East China's Shandong Province, meaning that the long-lost Sun Bin Bing Fa was available again.

After the careful rearrangement, the bamboo slips version of the book was divided into two sections. The first section includes 15 articles from Qi Sun Zi, while the second section cannot be determined as part of Qi Sun Zi at present. The bamboo slips version is incomplete.

Author: Jeff

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