Wang Zhoushi, a leading artist of Suzhou Tanci in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was born in Yuanhe, East China's Jiangsu Province. Since he had a baldhead with red scars on his face, he was called Purple Favus by people.

Wang Zhoushi was good at making fun and amusing the audience during his performance. It is said that he once performed You Long Zhuan (The Story of Swimming Dragon) before Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796) while Qianlong was on an inspection tour in Suzhou. After his performance, the emperor brought him back to the capital and made him an official. Later, he returned home on the excuse of poor health and hung a tablet with words of "Performing Before the Emperor" in front of his house. In 1776, Wang founded the Guangyu Club, which laid the foundation for his career in performing Suzhou Tanci.

Wang Zhoushi's major contributions are that he summarized performing skills of Tangci arts and wrote books Shu Pin and Shu Ji, which dwell on skills to learn and problems to avoid during Tanci performance. His work provides good reference for artists of later generations.