It is the 24th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem, contained in the verse 何呂施張 (Hé Lǚ Shī Zhāng).

[10] In Taiwan, 張 is the fourth-most-common surname, making up 5.26% of the population of the Republic of China.

[12] 張 combines the Chinese characters 弓 (gōng, "bow") and 長 (simp.

It originally meant "to open up" or "to spread" as an arching bow, but as a common noun in modern use it is a measure word for flat objects such as paper and cloth, like the English "sheet of".

The fifth son of the Yellow Emperor, Qing Yangshi (simplified Chinese: 青阳氏; traditional Chinese: 青陽氏; pinyin: Qīng Yángshì), had a son Hui (挥; 揮; Huī) who was inspired by the Heavenly Bow constellation (天弓星, Tiān Gōng Xīng) to invent the bow and arrow.