His father later became a professor of Japanese literature and language at Peking University and also established some fame as a leading literary figure.

[3] He became a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1979 and the John E. Hudson Professor of Archaeology at Harvard in 1984.

[3] He trained many students over the years including distinguished archaeologists such as Bruce Trigger, Richard J. Pearson, and Choi Mong-lyong.

[3][4] Most of his books of personal research are preserved in the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History, Boston University.

[5] In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Chang, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses more than 100 works in more than 200 publications in 9 languages and more than 9000 library holdings.