Empress Zhang was described as a "foolish and demanding woman, capable of no more than petty faults", but those included a constant desire for expensive objects, credulity about the teachings of the most specious Buddhist and Taoïst clerics, and limitless favour for her family, especially her two unrestrainedly venal brothers.

Her behaviour infuriated the emperor no less than it did his mother; henceforth, he used every means at his disposal to humiliate and intimidate Empress Zhang and her family.

At first the emperor approved a suggestion to rebuild the palace on a smaller scale, since materials were needed for his fathers temple, which was then under construction.

But in late August, he suggested that work on the palace be stopped, ostensibly to ease the burden on his subjects.

Grand secretary Fei Hung noted that Empress Zhang was not at ease in her quarters, but the emperor was unmoved.

The art during the Ming dynasty reflected the power acquired by Empress Zhang and other courtly women during her reign.

The exhibition Taoism and the Arts of China mentions that in addition to the empress, the scroll includes a group of divine women called "jade maidens" as well as the Taoist priest who ordained her and several deities.

She was an influence on numerous artworks by Wu Wei and possibly his colleagues and paintings attributed to Zhang Lu.