Why is Sun Bin called "demigod" in folklore?

Sun Bin, the descendant of Sun Wu, the creator of Sun Tzu's Art of War, took Guiguzi as his teacher and Pang Juan as his teacher because of his talent. At that time, it was widely rumored that only Guiguzi had the lost Art of War. Because Pang Juan was cruel and heartless, Guiguzi only spread the Art of War to Sun Bin. Since then, they have fought many times on the battlefield, and Sun Bin created a legend with The Art of War. Most legends about Sun Bin are related to Pang Juan. In a way, Sun Bin's name will remain immortal thanks to Pang Juan.

There are many folklores about Sun Bin, but many of them can't be verified. One of the most famous is that his descendants called him Boot God, because it is said that he could not stand and walk after being framed by Pang Juan, and the pain was unbearable in rainy days, so he specially designed a pair of boots to protect his knees.

However, there is another story, and later people call him the boot god. It is said that he saved a woodcutter who was bitten by a poisonous snake, but the woodcutter couldn't find Sun Bin afterwards. From then on, the woodcutter's family made shoes for people to wear for generations, so there was a shoemaking industry. Therefore, later generations regard Sun Bin as the originator of the footwear industry, and now every year in the early October of the lunar calendar, shoemakers will worship their ancestors and accept disciples, and disciples will also send shoes to their masters on this day to show their gratitude. People of the older generation in Beijing know that Tongxingtang Restaurant in Beijing used to be very lively on the 28th day of the first month every year, which is why shoemakers are holding activities in memory of Sun Bin.

In addition, friends in Lijiang, Yunnan should know about the "Sansheng Palace". There is a statue of Sun Bin in the pavilion, which says Sun Bin, the founder of the cobbler, so some people later called him the cobbler god because his knees invented him. Other legends can only be traced back. The legend of Wuxi Huishan clay figurine was also created by Sun Bin. It is said that in Pang Juan, he used clay figurines and clay horses to break the five thunder arrays, so Huishan people regarded him as a clay figurine.