Sun Tzu 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 ancient Chinese states Zhao, Qi, Qin, Chu, Han, Wei, and Yan who fought to control the vast expanse of fertile territory in Eastern China. One of the more well-known
What Is Art? to justify their own tastes. Jahn notes the "often confusing use of categorisation" and the lack of definition of the key concept of emotion. Bayley writes that "the effectiveness of "What is Art?" lies not so much in its positive assertions as in its rejection of much that was taken for granted in the aesthetic theories of the time". Noyes criticises Tolstoy's dismissal of beauty, but states that, "despite its shortcomings", "What is Art?" "may be pronounced the most stimulating critical work of our time". Simmons mentions the "occasional brilliant passages" along with the "repetition, awkward language, and loose terminology".