 The oldest available sources disagree as to where Sun Tzu was born . The Spring and Autumn Annals states that Sun Tzu was born in Qi , while Sima Qian 's later Records of the Grand Historian states that Sun Tzu was a native of Wu . Both sources agree that Sun Tzu was born in the late Spring and Autumn Period and that he was active as a general and strategist , serving king Helü of Wu in the late sixth century BC , beginning around 512 BC . Sun Tzu 's victories then inspired him to write The Art of War . The Art of War was one of the most widely read military treatises in the subsequent Warring States period , a time of constant war among seven nations – Zhao , Qi , Qin , Chu , Han , Wei , and Yan – who fought to control the vast expanse of fertile territory in Eastern China . 
