Sun Tzu employed throughout East Asian warfare since its composition. During the twentieth century, "The Art of War" grew in popularity and saw practical use in Western society as well. It continues to influence many competitive endeavors throughout the world, including culture, politics, business, and sports, as well as modern warfare. 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" ("Shiji") states that Sun Tzu was a native of Wu. Both sources agree that Sun Tzu was
Sun Tzu most of the notable figures from the Spring and Autumn period. The name "Sun Wu" () does not appear in any text prior to the "Shiji", and may have been a made-up descriptive cognomen meaning "the fugitive warrior": the surname "Sun" can be glossed as the related term "fugitive" ("xùn" ), while "Wu" is the ancient Chinese virtue of "martial, valiant" ("wǔ" ), which corresponds to Sun Tzu's role as the hero's "doppelgänger" in the story of Wu Zixu. The only historical battle attributed to Sun Tzu, the Battle of Boju, has no record of him fighting in that battle.