Xīzhōushēng 西周生 (“Denizen of the Western Zhou”) is the pen name used by the author of KR4k0073 Xǐngshì Yīnyuán Zhuàn 醒世姻緣傳. No biographical information can be attached to this name with confidence. The pseudonym most likely signals the author’s Ming loyalism (identifying with the Zhou dynasty, which overthrew the Shang, as the Qing overthrew the Ming) and his or her geographical association with Shāndōng 山東.
The authorship of the Xǐngshì Yīnyuán Zhuàn has been attributed by Hú Shì 胡適 (1928) and subsequent scholars to 蒲松齡 蒲松齡 (1640–1715) on the basis of dialect evidence, topographical detail, and stylistic parallels. The identification is disputed; alternative candidates include the Míng loyalist Dīng Yào-kāng 丁耀亢 (1599–1669). No CBDB record exists for the pen name Xīzhōushēng.