with the older Zhang Xuan, one of the two most famous figure painters of the Tang dynasty (618–907).

Believed to have been of noble birth, Zhou was active in court circles. He painted religious subjects for the emperor, but he became famous for his paintings of court figures, especially of ladies. These works are characterized by a high degree of psychological insight into the subjects, and they describe the standards of taste for this period—a preference for the portly, elegantly garbed female caught frozen at a perfect moment of composure, totally involved in the pursuit of idle pleasure. Zhou's style was very similar to that of Zhang, and the two men's work is often indistinguishable.