Yongjia School was a group of Confucian scholars that took shape in Yongjia in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). These scholars in present-day Wenzhou in the southeast of Zhejiang promoted the application of knowledge to the real world. Yongjia School was one of the three Confucian schools of the Southern Song.

Chen Fuliang (1137-1203) was a major scholar of the Yongjia School. He emphasized practical knowledge that would benefit national governance and promoted the pursuit of what was right and what was good for people. He dismissed empty discussions of idealist philosophy and the philosophy of mind. In his lifetime, he established himself as a prominent scholar; he served in various government appointments and established himself as a scholar. Moreover, he was an educator. A book authored in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) lists 25 scholars who were his disciples. In the late phase of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), scholars added 15 to the list. In modern times, two more disciples have been added to the list. Apparently Chen taught many more students in his lifetime. On the shortlist, some disciples are well known. Records about who they were and what they were are abundant. Some, however, are little known. Zhou Mian is one of the little known disciples of Chen Fuliang.

The following is the simplified result of relatively comprehensive-textual research about Zhou Mian.

Zhou Mian’s birth and death years are not known. He entered history in 1196 when he sat for imperial examinations at the provincial level together with his father and two brothers. They all passed and got the degree. The four scholars from the same family caused a sensation. The Zhou clan in Pingyang County in southern Zhejiang was a prominent existence. The first generation came from Shangxi in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The clan in Pingyang is now more than 1,260 years. The clan branch to which Zhou Mian belonged had been in Muyuan in Pingyang for 400 years before it flourished and produced scholars that won honors in imperial examinations.

Zhou Mian took lessons from Chen Fuliang when he was very young. After the father and three sons attained the degree at the same time, Chen wrote a short essay in commemoration of the glorious feat of the family. The essay is in a book by Chen.

Chen Fuliang is best known for his twelve-volume commentary on Master Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals,  Commentary of Guliang and his 30-volume review of Master Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals. When he was writing the 12-volume commentary, he had a disciple study the three commentaries thoroughly. After the first student graduated and attained an imperial degree, Zhou Mian became his master’s assistant. He studied the three commentaries thoroughly. When Chen became a government official, Zhou Mian followed the master around and studied under his guidance. After the master finished the book, Zhou even wrote an afterword for the commentary. Chen never showed his 12-volume book to any outsiders in his lifetime. He said it was meant for readers after he passed away.

After attaining the  degree in 1196, Zhou Mian was appointed to various different government positions. There is not a single text that relates where he took office in his career. Bits and pieces from different texts show that he was appointed a teacher of Confucian classics after he was honored with the  degree. He served as a government official in Jiangling in 1208 and Xiangzhou in 1211. From 1213 to 1214, he was a government official in Fenghua, a county in Zhejiang, as evidenced by an inscription in celebration of a new county school. The year 1215 saw him work as an imperial examination official. His last government position was a prefecture governorship in present-day Guangxi.

Whether he was a capable official is not known. What his scholarly achievement was is also little known. What he wrote as a scholar is almost unknown. Only a poem and a few short essays are available today. His son got a  degree in 1229 and his grandson attained a  degree in military affairs in 1268 and was appointed a county governor.