active 16th century-17th century Qingyuan Zhou

Qingyuan Zhou was a Chinese author active around the late 16th to early 17th century. He is chiefly associated with Xihu er ji (The Second Collection of West Lake Tales), a collection of short vernacular stories connected with West Lake and the cultural world around Hangzhou.

Available catalog records consistently identify the author only in a minimal way—essentially by name and period of activity—so modern biographical details are scarce. Because of that, it is safest to describe Qingyuan Zhou as a late Ming storyteller whose reputation rests mainly on this surviving collection rather than on a well-documented personal history.

His work is still of interest for readers who enjoy classical Chinese fiction, regional storytelling, and tales that blend legend, history, romance, and local color. Even with so little known about the person behind the name, the stories themselves offer a vivid window into the literary imagination of the time.