Zhou Yan, a medical scholar of the Qing Dynasty (1832–c. 1905), courtesy name Bodu, pseudonym Luqi Shanren, was a native of Shanyin (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). In 1856, he entered the Ministry of Justice as a deputy official through financial contribution. While residing in the capital, he suffered from cold dysentery and was nearly misdiagnosed by an incompetent physician, which inspired him to pursue medicine. He extensively studied medical texts and delved deeply into the teachings of Qi Bo and Huang Di. His effective treatments earned him a reputation as a skilled physician. Later, he served as a county magistrate in Qixian, Shanxi, and Shucheng and Xuyi in Anhui. After returning to his hometown, he resumed his study of medical classics. At a time when Western medicine was gaining influence in the East, some practitioners of Chinese medicine abandoned their own traditions, favoring Western methods over Chinese ones. Zhou believed that the flaw in Chinese medicine lay not in adhering to tradition but in discarding it. He thus revered classical scholars like Xu Dachun, Chen Xiuyuan, and You Zaijing, while criticizing Wang Qingren. He praised Tang Rongchuan for "balancing Chinese and Western medicine and elucidating the secrets of creation, making significant contributions to medicine." He argued that Western medicine "neglects qi transformation and focuses on physical form," aligning with Tang Rongchuan's balanced perspective. His works include *Liuqi Ganzheng Yaoyi* (1898) and *Bencao Sibianlu* (1904).