He began to use the pseudonym Libo, of which sound is the resemblance of English word "liberty", in the 1930.

He was imprisoned for supporting a workers' strike in 1932, on his release he joined the League of the Left-Wing Writers in 1934 and the Chinese Communist Party in 1935.

[1] He served as a war reporter during 1937–38, and interpreter to Agnes Smedley meantime.

Then he went to Yan'an and worked at Lu Xun Art Institute (鲁迅艺术学院) in 1939.

[citation needed] Zhou was elected as the deputy of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd National People's Congresses.