Zhōu Kāngēng 周堪賡 (1592–1654), hào Dōngmíng 東溟, MíngQīng transitional scholar-official from Níngxiāng 寧鄉 (Húguǎng / Húnán), the same district in which the Chán centre of Dàwéishān 大溈山 lies. Wànlì 35 dīngwèi (1607) jìnshì. Under the Míng he rose through provincial posts to serve as Nánjīng Gōngbù shàngshū 南京工部尚書 in the late Chóngzhēn years. After the 1644 collapse of the Míng he transferred service to the Qīng and rose to Hùbù shàngshū 戶部尚書 and zīzhèng dàfū zhèngzhì shàngqīng; he subsequently retired to his native Níngxiāng. A lay patron of the Dàwéi Línjì revival under Wǔfēng Rúxué 如學 and his heir Yǎngzhuō Zhèngmíng 正明, he contributed the front preface to Zhìhǎi’s re-cut yǔlù of Rúxué (KR6q0400) and the 塔銘 tǎmíng (stūpa inscription) of Zhèngmíng embedded in the parallel yǔlù (KR6q0401) — both post-dating his own 1647 assumption of the Qīng Hùbù shàngshū rank. He is sometimes confused with the Níngxiāng poet Táo Rǔnài 陶汝鼐 (1601–1683), who wrote the closing tǎmíng of the Rúxué yǔlù; the two were close associates in the Níngxiāng literary-Buddhist network of the late 1640s and 1650s. Lifedates follow CBDB (id 83561), citing 《清代人物生卒年表》 #15346 (Wànlì 20 = 1592 to Shùnzhì 11 = 1654); an earlier draft of this note (with the companion work note KR6q0400) gave 1585–1663 from a weaker secondary source and should be taken as superseded. Sources: CBDB 83561; Níngxiāng xiànzhì 寧鄉縣志; Qīngshǐ gǎo 清史稿 lièzhuàn; 《清代人物生卒年表》#15346.