The problem of "holding back" for scholars
There was a joke: if you want to study Sun Wu and the art of war The best way is to ask him a few simple questions: "when and when was Sun Wu born? Where was his art of War written? Did he eventually return to the countryside or was killed?" "in fact, there is a lot of controversy in the field of history, but there has been no accurate statement." Zhao Chengfeng, President of Shandong Sun Tzu Research Association and director of Shandong International Sun Tzu military research and exchange center, told reporters.
At the meeting held on the morning of the 28th, many experts and scholars who attended the meeting talked about this issue and felt quite helpless: "it's really frustrating." Tian Zhaoguang, Executive Deputy Secretary General of Shandong International Sun Tzu research and Exchange Center for the art of war, just shook his head and wry smile when he talked about Sun Wu's life experience and other issues: "many people, including relatives and friends, when they heard that I studied Sun Tzu, asked me when my Sun Tzu was born. It's very difficult for me to answer these questions. It's very frustrating. Many people would think that you are not studying Sun Tzu Why don't you know when your grandson was born? "
In fact, the detailed age of Sun Wu's birth is not recorded in today's historical materials, and even his life story is rarely recorded. Tong Xigang, Professor of Qilu Culture Research Center of Shanshi University, told the reporter: "in fact, if you count carefully, there are not many records of Sun Wu in historical materials. According to the algorithm of historical circles for people's age, most of them know the age and time of their birth or death, and then calculate backward or forward. Even if you don't know the date of his birth and death, you can calculate it according to the records in historical books. For example, when someone was appointed as an official at the age of 30, and then calculate his birth age according to the time of the year he was appointed as an official. " Unfortunately, there are only two records of Sun Wu in the current historical materials. One is in the third year of Helu (512 BC), Sun Wu dedicated 13 chapters of the art of war to Helu; the other is in the ninth year of Helu (506 BC), when the king of Wu led Sun Wu and Wu Zixu to conquer Chu. Unfortunately, the two years did not mention the age of Sun Wu at that time, which makes the date of Sun Wu's birth a historical mystery.
Sun Wu and Confucius are contemporaries
Despite the lack of detailed historical records, historians have made a general framework for the birth time of Sun Wu through their own ways. "In fact, Sun Wu and Confucius are contemporaries. Sun Wu is about ten years younger than Confucius (born in 551 BC) Xie Xianghao, a researcher and professor of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, is also the deputy director of the academic committee of Shandong International Sun Tzu military research and exchange center.
For many years, Xie Xianghao has been paying close attention to Sun Wu's research, and at the same time, he has begun to infer Sun Wu's birth time with scientific methods: "because first of all, you have to understand that the art of war is a work with mature military strategic thinking. Can we think that a young child might write such a book Obviously, it is impossible. In other words, when Sun Wu wrote this work, he would be a little older at least. Let's assume that the time when Sun Wu wrote the art of war is between 25 and 30 years old, which should be a reasonable period. Because according to the physical condition and growth of the ancients, the age between 25 and 30 is the time of prime. "
According to the book of War written by Sun Wu between 25 and 30 years old, Sun Wu's birth time should be roughly framed in 537-542 BC. However, this raises such a question. If Sun Wu was already an old man when he presented his book to King Helu of Wu, what should he do? Xie Xianghao said: "this is another problem, that is, if Sun Wu was older when he presented his book, what should he do?" in this regard, Xie Xianghao researched Sun Wu's parents and grandparents. As a result, through the study of Sun Wu's grandfather Tian Shu, he found that Sun Wu's grandfather Tian Shu was an old man A new clue: "Tian Shu is Sun Wu's grandfather. He was granted the surname of sun by the king of Qi for his meritorious deeds in attacking the state of Ju." Through Tian Shu's age and the time clue of his crusade against the state of Ju, Xie Xianghao finally denied Sun Wu's statement that he was older when he presented the book: "this is a very special process. If it's complicated, it's a little complicated, in fact, it's very simple. According to the time when Tian Shu felled Ju and his age, we can infer the age of Sun Wu. After all, the age difference between the two generations is not only more than ten years. "
Xie Xianghao's inference was also recognized by many experts attending the meeting, but each expert has his own views on the specific time of Sun Wu's birth. Wu Minggang, a specially invited researcher of Sun Zi Research Institute of Binzhou University, inferred that Sun Wu was born in 549 BC in his book a textual research on sun Wu's life. Hu Guangmin, Secretary General of Binzhou Sun Tzu Research Association, believes that Sun Wu was born in 545 BC. Liu Qingjun, vice president of Shandong Sun Tzu Research Association and director of Academic Committee, systematically expounded the argument that Sun Wu was born around 547 BC. In this regard, Zhao Chengfeng said: "I think we should seek common ground while reserving differences. At the same time, we should also resolve doubts and seek common ground. We can't find out the specific time of Sun Wu's birth, but at least we can find out a general time range. As for the specific year, we may have to wait for new archaeological evidence to come to a conclusion."
Where is the art of War written?
In the current historical circle, there is another controversial issue about where the art of war was written.
According to the historical records compiled by Sima Qian, the art of war of Sun Tzu had already been written when Sun Wu met with King Helu of Wu. Therefore, there is such a record in the historical records: "the art of war of Sun Tzu was also used by Qi people to see King Helu of Wu. Helu said, "I'll try my best to see the thirteen chapters of Zizhi. Can I try to rein in the army?" that is to say, before Sun Wu met Helu for the first time, he had already handed over his art of war to Helu, and Helu paid more attention to his art of war. According to this statement, we may infer that when Sun Wu was in the state of Qi, he had already written the art of war, which should have been written in the state of Qi.
However, in recent years, many scholars have found that the art of war contains some elements of Wu culture after studying the art of war. Therefore, some people have put forward the view that the art of war was written in the state of Wu.
Zhao Haijun, vice president and doctor of Sun Tzu Research Institute of Binzhou University, agrees with this view. In his opinion, there are many elements of Wu Culture in Sun Tzu's art of War: "for example, the hatred between Wu and Yue (that is, the hatred between Wu and Yue for generations) is recorded in Sun Tzu's art of war in detail; for another example, the bravery of Zhugui (that is, Zhugui refers to Cao GUI) is mentioned in the art of war." What's more, Cao Cao once explained Sun Tzu's art of War: "Sun Wu wrote thirteen articles on the art of war for the king of Wu.". Many scholars are puzzled by these records. Where did Sun Wu write the art of war?
In this regard, many participants spoke one after another and expressed their views. Tong Xigang told reporters: "because we lack sufficient evidence and historical data, if we make a bold assumption, I think the art of war of Sun Tzu is probably like this. When Sun Wu was in the state of Qi, the art of war had been basically formed, and had mature ideas. In the state of Wu, including the later experiences of Sun Wu and Wu Zixu leading the army to break through Chu, we can see that the art of war of Sun Tzu is very important Sun Wu has more experience, so he will constantly revise and adjust the art of war, and finally form the art of war we see now. " In fact, a large number of military theorists and military works emerged in the states of Qi and Lu in the pre Qin period. These works are still popular in later generations. The reason for the emergence of so many military theorists and military works comes from the influence of Qi culture. "In fact, Sun Wu was born in a military family. His parents, grandparents and even ancestors were all well-known soldiers. The influence of his family and the compatibility of Qi's academic thoughts made Sun Wu's military thoughts take shape. From this point of view, Sun Zi's art of war should be written in Qi, just like Sun Bin's art of war · Q, which was unearthed from the Han Dynasty tomb in Yinqueshan, Linyi According to leipian, "the way of Sun Tzu is the way of Wu and Yue in Ming Dynasty, and the way of Qi." Ji Hongbo, President of Binzhou University and vice president of Shandong Sunzi Research Association, said.
The end result is still in doubt
In 506 BC, King Helu of Wu appointed Wu Zixu as commander-in-chief and led the army to attack the state of Chu. Sun Wu, who had a good relationship with Wu Zixu, naturally followed the army. In the end, Wu's army won five battles and defeated the capital of Chu. Wu Zixu, who defeated the state of Chu, then did a rather thankless thing in the local area - digging graves and whipping corpses. He found the tomb of King Ping of Chu and whipped his body three hundred times to avenge his father and brother.
In the eyes of Wu people, Wu Zixu was undoubtedly a loyal minister, but in the eyes of Chu people, Wu Zixu's actions were not popular, so Wu Zixu had to withdraw from Chu.
Interestingly, after the victory of this expedition to Chu, Sun Wu seemed to have disappeared. According to the research of historians, since 505 BC, there was no record of Sun Wu in all kinds of historical records, so Sun Wu disappeared in the long river of history.
In fact, even in the existing historical materials, there are not many records about Sun Wu. Even when Sima Qian, who is famous for his strict administration of history, compiled the biographies of Sun Tzu Wuqi in historical records, there are not many records about Sun Wu's assisting Wu Zixu in conquering Chu. He only recorded the details of his using his concubines as soldiers in the royal palace to test the ox knife, but for Sun Wu and Wu Zixu Chu's affairs, however, only used "so he Lu knew that Sun Tzu was able to use soldiers, and he thought he would. In the west, he broke through strong Chu and entered Ying. In the north, he was famous in Qi and Jin Dynasties. Sun Tzu and Li Li Yan were the two great princes More than 30 words to describe. "In fact, this is very normal, because at that time, Sun Wu's fame was far less than Wu Zixu's." Tong Xigang told reporters: "at that time, Wu Zixu was far superior to Sun Wu in both fame and strength."
But what people didn't expect is that Sun Wu disappeared so thoroughly. There are few records of Sun Wu in official unofficial history. Some are just Folk Legends: "there are legends that he retired, and there are also legends that he was implicated by Wu Zixu and killed." Tong Xigang said: "there are all kinds of possibilities. They may be that they can't stand Wu Zixu's revenge. They may be that they love their family and return to Qi to teach military science. They can't rule out that he was killed. After all, he was introduced to Helu by Wu Zixu. Wu Zixu lost his power in the political struggle later, which may also affect Sun Wu himself and lead to his death. At present, unless new archaeological evidence is unearthed, it is difficult to prove where Sun Wu went. "
Because of this, there are many different opinions about the fate of Sun Wu. Whether he will return to Qi to die or not has also become the focus of the experts at the forum. Some said that he "escaped from the high lead" and died in Wu. Some said that he returned to his hometown and taught the art of war. In this regard, Xie Xianghao said: "in fact, the purpose of making this thing is to be responsible for history, not just for Shandong. I have a consensus with many experts on this point. It can't be said that because Sun Wu is from Shandong, he must go back to Shandong. We still need to verify. "
