Sun Bin孙膑

History vs. fiction

The punishment of cutting off the feet and branding the face is recorded in official history, while feigning madness and eating feces is fictional in the novel.

• attestedSubjected to punishment of cutting off feet and branding face

  The Records of the Grand Historian, Biography of Sun Tzu and Wu Qi, clearly records that Sun Bin was framed by Pang Juan, 'cut off both his feet and branded his face, wanting to hide him so he would not be seen.' That is, Sun Bin indeed suffered the punishment of having his feet cut off (the punishment of cutting off the feet) and the punishment of branding the face (the punishment of branding). The description in Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms, Chapter 88, of Pang Juan, fearing Sun Bin's talent, fabricating charges and punishing him with the punishment of cutting off the feet and branding the face, follows the official history completely in core facts.

• novel inventionFeigned madness and ate feces to avoid disaster

  In the 88th chapter of "Dongzhou Lieguo Zhi" (Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms), to heighten dramatic conflict and the tragic color of the character, it is detailed that after Sun Bin's feet were cut off, he deliberately feigned madness in a pigsty, even eating feces and drinking urine, in order to completely lull Pang Juan's vigilance and ultimately seize the opportunity to flee to the state of Qi. Such highly legendary details of feigning madness to avoid disaster are not recorded in any official histories such as the "Shiji" (Records of the Grand Historian), and are purely fictional embellishments by later novelists. The original text reads: "遂将锦囊启视，乃黄绢一幅，中间写著“诈疯魔”三字。" ("Dongzhou Lieguo Zhi", Chapter 88, data/raw/dongzhou-lieguo/第088回.txt)