The Battle of Maling (Chinese: 馬陵之戰) took place in Maling, currently Dazhangjia Town (大張家鎮), Shen County (莘县), Henan Province, in 342 BC during the Warring States period (476-221 BC). The combatants were the State of Qi, who fought on behalf of the State of Han, and the State of Wei. This battle is well recorded in history texts and is famous for the tactics of Sun Bin, known as the "Tactic of Missing Stoves", in which one side is led to underestimate the other by creating an illusion of soldiers running away from the army.

Pang Juan, commander of Wei, was lured to a narrow pass at night, where his army was ambushed by 10,000 archers from Qi. According to some sources, Pang Juan committed suicide whilst others say he was killed by Qi archers. Wei was defeated and its power decreased significantly thereafter, making the state unable to compete for Kingship of the Zhou Dynasty.

In 342 BC, the state of Wei attacked the state of Han, and Han turned to its ally Qi for help. Sun Bin advised King Wei of Qi to provide military aid for Han, but only send out troops when the army of Wei had been depleted after prolonged fighting in order to preserve their own strength whilst garnering respect from Han.

Han was misled to believe that they could rely on the army of their ally Qi, and thus fought without reserve. After a year of resistance, Han was no longer able to resist and asked for help from Qi a second time. Instead of sending troops to save Han directly, Sun Bin suggested they should aim for the capital of Wei, Daliang.

When King Hui of Wei learned of the attack, he had to order Wei General Pang Juan, to retreat in order to defend against the oncoming army of Qi. Pang Juan was incensed at the news, because he was only days away from taking the capital of Han. King Hui of Wei appointed Prince Shen of Wei as chief commander and Pang Juan as commander, and ordered an army of 100,000 to mobilize against Qi.

Learning from the Battle of Guiling, Pang Juan ordered his troops to go around the Qi troops, to avoid getting ambushed on the main path. Pang Juan also ordered his troops to make haste to the capital, before Qi could set up any effective ambushes. Instead of rushing and trying to ambush the high morale Wei troops, Sun Bin decided to let a great majority of his troops rest. These Qi troops were ordered to move slowly back into Qi and prepare equipment for an ambush when needed. Sun Bin took a smaller force to face Pang Juan. Once the two forces drew close to each other, Sun Bin immediately ordered a retreat from Jin.

In order to mislead his enemy, Sun Bin ordered his soldiers to make less stoves (cookfires) day by day. On the first day, Qi had enough stoves for 100,000 people; on the second day, there were stoves for only 50,000 people. On the third day, there were only stoves for an army of 20,000. As Pang Juan saw this, he judged that the soldiers of Qi were deserting their army and decided to pursue the Qi army with a small elite cavalry. This unit was overconfident following their recent victory in Han. As Qi retreated into their own territory, Sun Bin ordered his troops to abandon some of their heavy artillery. This further gave the impression of a state of confusion amongst the Qi army. As Qi arrived at Maling, Sun Bin noticed a heavily wooded and narrow pass that could be used for ambush. Estimating the arrival of Pang Juan around nightfall, he ordered his men to cut down a tree, remove its bark, and carve the words "Pang Juan shall die in Malingdao, under this tree" on its trunk. This was a proverb spoken by the teacher of both Sun Bin and Pang Juan (both had been in the same class).

Pang Juan had moved to Malingdao, and when he saw the warning message, he paid no attention, instead ordering the words to be scraped off. The army advanced when suddenly, a flush of Qi troops surrounded the Wei. In the darkness, Qi archers managed to shoot down many of the Wei soldiers, before the rest of soldiers charged in. The Wei troops did not expect Qi to still have so many troops under their command and were quickly overrun. Pang Juan, sensing his end was near, committed suicide. In some versions, Pang Juan was among the first of his troops to be shot to death.

Even though Pang Juan had tricked Sun Bin and maimed him by removing his knee caps, Sun Bin felt very sad to see his former classmate dead. He had hoped they would make their relationship better after the battle.

After the death of Pang Juan, Prince Shen was captured by Qi. The power of the state of Wei decreased considerably after this battle.

Pang Juan

Pang Juan was a fellow student of Sun Bin and both of them studied military strategy together under the tutelage of the hermit Guiguzi. They developed a close friendship and became sworn brothers, while studying in seclusion with their teacher in mountainous regions. Pang left and ventured to the Wei state when he heard that King Hui of Wei was recruiting men of talent to serve him. Pang impressed the king with his proposals on policies to strengthen the Wei state and boldly asserted that he had the ability to help Wei conquer the other six major rival states. The king appointed Pang Juan as a military general and put him in charge of Wei's military forces. Pang led the Wei armies to victories in battles against smaller states such as Song, Lu and Zheng and became a highly respected figure in Wei.

Rivalry with Sun Bin

Pang invited Sun Bin to join him in serving the Wei state later but he was actually secretly jealous of Sun because Sun learnt more from their teacher than him. Pang Juan framed Sun Bin on charges of treason later and reported Sun to King Hui. The king believed Pang and was furious, that he ordered Sun Bin to be executed. Pang pretended to plead for mercy on Sun's behalf and the king agreed to spare Sun's life. Sun was condemned to face-tattooing (criminal branding) and had his kneecaps removed, becoming a cripple. Pang pretended to take pity on Sun and tried to trick him to compile his knowledge about military strategy into a book and kill him later. But some servants told Sun Bin the truth and Sun Bin discovered Pang's true intentions and feigned madness. Sun escaped from Wei with the help of officials from the Qi state and became an important strategist and statesman in Qi later.

Betrayal and multilation of Sun Bin

Pang Juan framed Sun Bin for treason and reported him to King Hui of Wei, who ordered Sun Bin to be executed. Pang pretended to plead for mercy on Sun's behalf, and the king instead condemned Sun to face-tattooing and removal of the kneecaps, effectively branding Sun as a criminal and crippling him for life. Pang pretended to take pity on Sun and treated him well while trying to trick Sun into compiling his knowledge on military strategy into a book, after which Pang could kill him. Sun eventually realized Pang's true intentions and feigned madness. Pang attempted to test whether Sun had really become insane or not, so he had Sun locked up in a pigsty. Sun appeared to enjoy himself there and even consumed animal faeces, calling them delicious. Pang believed that Sun was truly mad and lowered his guard. Sun later escaped from the Wei state with the help of diplomats from the Qi state.

Works of Sun Bin

Sun Bin's Art of War (孫臏兵法) is a military treatise authored by Sun Bin. The book was believed to be lost after the Han Dynasty, and although there were numerous references to it in post-contemporary texts, some historians still believed that the book was never written and could be a forgery. However, in April 1972, archaeologists excavated several fragments of scrolls from a tomb in Linyi, Shandong province. Sun Bin's Art of War was found among the scrolls. Although ancient texts mention that the original Sun Bin's Art of War was 89 chapters long, the rediscovered copy had 16 verifiable chapters only. As fragments of Sun Tzu's The Art of War were discovered as well, historians believed that some of the chapters might belong to The Art of War instead.

The newly discovered text provided historians with a different perspective on the Battle of Guiling and Battle of Maling. In addition, when compared to Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Sun Bin's Art of War contained one major difference from the former. The former advised against siege warfare, while the latter suggested tactics for attacking a besieged city. This paralleled a shift in the strategic consideration of siege warfare during the later stages of the Warring States period.

This post has been edited by Maria Takagi: Nov 29 2020, 05:28 PM

TLDR version:

Han state ask Qi state for help against Wei state

Two generals who were consider like brothers, they came from same school under same sifu

(this is almost like those cainis soap opera but this is real history)

When they graduated, Gen Pang Juan tricked Gen Sun Bin (descendant of Sun Tzu) by frame him to the King, got his knee caps removed and face tatoo to brand him as criminal.

Gen Pang Juan tried to trick Sun Bin in captivity by asking him to write his military strategy. But Sun Bin managed to feign madness by eating pig crap.

Then Sun Bin escape. But Qi state decided to recruit him as general.

Gen Pang attack Qi state. Sun Bin set up trap at narrow pass, gen pang came in with 100k troops, all masaccred by hail of arrows.

Sun Bin got his karma and won.

Mcm the 300 movie. Six pack amdk crush entire army at a narrow pass. But different ending because anjing betrayed back door end up kena hail of arrows died.

This post has been edited by moosekaka: Nov 29 2020, 05:36 PM

actually no 300

100,000 vs 100,000

Gen Sun use feign tactics by reducing no of ovens from 100k to 25k...so when Gen Pang sent his spies and scouts they think the army is smaller. Gen Sun also abandoned some artillery to make Gen Pang think his troops has deserted him.

So Gen Pang too much confidence rush into narrow path with 100k troops, while Gen Sun waiting at the mountain side with 20k archers to mow them down

Thx for sharing..brain win brawn..lol

both was student of 鬼谷子(Mr. Ghost Valley),..

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AC%BC%E8%B0%B7%E5%AD%90

Pang Juan and Sun Bin very close when schooling under Mr. Ghost Valley,.. Pang Juan eager earn merit on what he learned,.. wanted to go down hill to support Wei country,...B4 go his teacher tell him to pick a flower so he can tell him his fortune,.. he go pick some wild flower,.. his teacher say,. "if u see black goat,.. u'll raise to top,.. if u horse u'll die,.."

Pang Juan then tell Sun Bin that he will take him if he become famous and rich,.. so sure enough Pang Juan become very successful General,..the goat is another story for his ruse in a battle,..So he invited Sun Bin to joined him,.. since now he's been successful,.. brother mah,..

Sun Bin so happy and tell his teacher,.. his teacher agreed for Sun Bin to leave,.. also tell him to pick a flower,.. he simply pick a chrysanthemum in the room and snap off the bottom of the stem,.. his teacher said,.."u will get betray,.. u should change your name from Sun Ping to Sun Bin",..Ping is word for guest,.. Bin is for cripple,. then b4 he go Mr. Ghost Valley a packet of seal off notes,..telling him only open when he's in danger,..

So Sun Bin join Pang Juan,.. and the Wei King like Sun Bin very much,.. b'cos he can lead army as good as Pang Juan,.. so Pang Juan get jealous,..so framed Sun Bin for treason by falsifying his letter,.. the King very angry and punish Sun Bin by potong urat kaki,.. making him cripple,..

Pang Juan wanted to kill Sun Bin,.. but knowing after he went off,.. Mr. Ghost Valley got teach Sun Bin his ancestor's Sun Tze art of war,.. so he pretend to kesian Sun Bin and persuade him to write down a copy of the book,...

But when Sun Bin found out Pang Juan tricks,.. he know he's life in danger,.. so he open his teacher's secret packet note,.. and it's written "become gila",..
so he pretend to be gila,.. burn all books,.. burn own house,.. go eat sleep at pig dent,..

until one day,.. a Qi general came as ambassador saw Sun Bin,.. help him escape out of Wei and smuggle him to Qi,..

there's another story telling how Sun Bin help the Qi general to win horse race,.. then the next story is "Round up Wei to save Zhou" battle,.. then the Maling battle story,.. great finishing,.. with Pang Juan died under a very big banting written "Pang Juan Die Here",.. with an arrow on his forehead,.. his teacher prediction came true,.. Maling is Valley of Horse,..

Good battle

I see mailing, I think luncheon meat

comparable to Han xin?

better than Han Xin,.. he's the only successful General in history that is cripple,..

hard to say he is better than Han Xin.
Han Xin himself was a great general on strategize how to use his army and one of the key factor why Liu Bang won in the end

the proverbs 圍魏救趙Besiege Wei To Rescue Zhao was about his 1st battle with Pang Juan,..

Han Xin was not as good as Zhang Liang who live a long life,.. Han Xin weak point was his hesitation to create his own power center, but instead help Liu Bang to defeat Xiang Yu,.. Last last, after win the war, he kena strip all military power from Liu Bang and got killed by his wife,.. without Zhang Liang, Liu Bang won't survived to rule whole China,.. but Zhang Liang fast fast quit his post and received pencen,.. he live a long live,..

Make me wanna play rotk11

Both Han Xin and Zhang Liang (also Xiao He) were key success for Liu Bang, and of them played different roles. Zhang Liang was more an advisor and strategist for Liu Bang while Han Xin was a genius in war.
You can also say without Han Xin, Liu Bang can't even fight out from Ba Su.

The question is who better general not who live longer right?
By that time, Liu Bang already not trusted Han Xin after he got the throne, heck he not even trust his old friend Xiao He.

I don't see how Sun Bin is better than Han Xin in that regards of general.

Keep it coming TS.

But Han Xin was a “Qua Fu”

Seriously the chinese war history is awesome.

More pls Ts..

I like Han Xin story.
He was average under xiang yu and become prominent under liu bang.
Also become we share the same surname, lulz

Xiang Yu is well known as being a noob ruler and not know how to use his men, he also known to nepotism always gave out important post to his relatives.
Though Xiang Yu himself was also a great general and militarist, he won all the battles but the last.

Han Xin was a great general but not a great leader. He was too arrogant but didn't take the opportunity to destroy Liu Bang when he had the opportunity.

Maybe he is obsessed with Xiang Yu lol..

To Han Xin, defeating him is the top priority, maybe.

Way dunno ktards like classical Chinese records

Yes, he probably was. Both he and Xiang Yu were the two best warring generals of the time. I'm guessing he really looked up to Xiang Yu but when his talent wasn't recognised, it turned to hate.

I never really saw a good documentary on how Han Xin actually defeated Xiang Yu in the final epic battle. I mean detailed battle strategies and formations etc.

Although, after Xiang Yu was defeated, I think Han Xin would have known what would have happened but maybe he was too arrogant to take the necessary precautions.

Xiang Yu wanted a return to the orthodoxy, meaning various warlords ruling over the respective regions such as during the Zhou Dynasty. Liu Bang on the other hand, wanted to continue the system instituted by Qin Shih Huang Ti.

I think Liu Bang was the better choice rather than Xiang Yu. China would probably end up like Europe if he had won. Maybe not as fragmented, but probably split into 5 or more different nations.

I always wonder how did ppl in those era easily pick up weapons n fight to gore death

I think most of those in rural areas had some rudimentary ability to defend themselves. After all, it's not like modern times. Imagine, if you're able to hunt and kill animals etc, you'd probably be quite hardy.

Sun Bin was descendant of Sun Tze,.. his 2 famous battle is this Battle of Maling,.. Battle of Guling,..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guiling

which revolutionized Autumn Spring warring style into new era Warring State style,..he even wrote his own strategy-ism,..Sun Bin's Art of War (孫臏兵法),... Han Xin did't leave any strategy-ism,..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Bin.

This post has been edited by Cincai lar: Nov 30 2020, 12:06 AM

i think he had enough opportunity, but in the end he choose to remain loyal, which later backfires .
I remember at a moment he had enough military power to declare himself warlord and his advisors also telling him this

i guess famine and poverty ... its either u die in battlefield or starve to death later

The 2 things that drove ppl to madness