Zhou was born in
Shanghai, on 12 February 1923, while his
ancestral home was in
Zhenhai,
Zhejiang. In 1941, he was admitted to
Utopia University, where he majored in
mathematics. After graduating in October 1945, he became an assistant at Nanjing Temporary University and one year later was transferred to the Institute of Mathematics,
Academia Sinica as an assistant. In October 1949, he joined the faculty of
Peking University. After studying Russian in Beijing Russian College for several months, he was sent to study at
Moscow State University on government scholarships. He returned to China in August 1957 and continued to teach at Peking University. In 1960, he was transferred to the Beijing No.9 Research Institute, the Second Machinery Industry (now
China Academy of Engineering Physics). On 2 March 2021, he died of illness in Beijing, aged 98. ==Contributions==