Zhou Bichu, born in Pinghe County, Fujian Province, graduated from the Xiamen Art School in 1922. In 1925, he went to Paris and furthered his education at L'Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts where his teacher was an artist named Emest Laurent and his classmates included Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian and Yan Wenliang.

In 1930, Zhou Bichu returned to China, where he taught at Xiamen Art School, Shanghai Art School, Xin Hua Art School and Hangzhou National Art School, and held many solo exhibitions. By the end of 1949, he had emigrated to Indonesia, where he was interviewed by president Sukarno. He held a large exhibition in Jakarta in 1959, returning in the same year to the motherland in order to teach at the ...