The Spring and Autumn Annals was likely composed in the 5th century BC, and apart from the Bamboo Annals is the only such work to have survived from that period.[1] By the time of Confucius, in the 6th century BC, the term "springs and autumns" (chūnqiū 春秋, Old Chinese *tʰun tsʰiw) had come to mean "year" and was probably becoming a generic term for "annals" or "scribal records".[1] The Annals was not the only work of its kind, as many other Eastern Zhou states also kept annals in their archives.[2]