The Strategist Born from Tragedy
He was the greatest student of military strategy of his generation — until his rival cut off his膝盖 bones. He rose again as the strategist who destroyed the same kingdom that had humiliated him.
Sun Bin was a student of the military philosopher Guiguzi. His classmate Pang Juan became jealous of his talent and had Sun Bin's knee caps cut off — a punishment that marked him for life and gave him his name: Sun Bin, the Scarred. Sun Bin fled to Qi and served the King of Qi as military strategist. He advised the Qi forces in battle after battle. At the Battle of Maling he used a trick — ordering his soldiers to dig cookfires to make it seem like fewer troops, then counterattacked at night and destroyed the Wei army. Pang Juan died in the chaos. Sun Bin had his revenge. He went on to serve Qi as military advisor, never forgetting what had been taken from him.