Cao Xueqin
Zhou also had a major interest in Western perceptions of "Honglou Meng" and in the English translation history of the novel. He strongly believed that it was very important that Westerners be acquainted with this novel because he thought that reading it was the best and easiest way for them to learn about Chinese culture. At one stage in his life, he seriously considered translating "Dream of the Red Chamber" into English. In the 1980s, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin, a Luce Scholar, and lectured at several American universities, including Princeton and Columbia. Zhou also gave several well-received lectures on "Honglou Meng" to foreigners in Beijing in 2002. In 2005, he wrote an article for a special issue of the international comparative literature journal, the "Tamkang Review", which was devoted exclusively to the novel. In 2009, he penned a special introduction to the English translation of his 1992 book "Cao Xueqin Xin Zhuan" 曹雪芹新传 (A New Biography of Cao Xueqin).