After studying at Songhua College in Peking from 1916 to 1918, he relocated to the United States to complete his higher education.
While completing his doctoral work, Chang served as an attache to the Chinese Delegation at the Washington Disarmament Conference in 1921.
Chang returned to China and was appointed professor and chairman of English Literature at Peking National University in 1926.
He passed while in Shanghai on an official visit to the People's Republic of China[2] Chang married Sang-mi Han in 1927.
While holding his American professorships, Chang lived at 220 Schenck Avenue, Great Neck, Long Island, New York.