Zhang Chang was from an ethnic minority tribe in Yiyang Commandery (義陽郡; around present-day Zaoyang, Hubei), Jingzhou.
[1] At the turn of the fourth century CE, many refugees entered Yizhou to flee the rebellion, famine and plague in the Guanzhong region.
Zhang Chang then attacked Jiangxia's capital and forced Gong Qin to flee, placing the commandery under his command.
[7] Zhang Chang made himself Qiu Chen's Chancellor of State and introduced a new era name: Shenfeng (神鳳).
He also produced fake phoenix and jade ornaments for Qiu Chen and attempted to emulate the lifestyle of the Han dynasty by copying their sacrificial rituals and clothing.
[8] Soon, Zhang Chang spread a rumour claiming that the Jin court had sent a large army to kill everyone, seeing that all in the south had risen in revolt.
Zhang Chang's general, Huang Lin (黃林), led 20,000 soldiers to invade Yuzhou, but Liu Qiao defeated him.
Later in the year, Zhang Chang’s general, Shi Bing, invaded Yangzhou, defeated its Inspector, Chen Hui (陳徽), and capture all the province's commanderies.
A man from Linhuai Commadery named Feng Yun (封雲) also took up arms and invaded Xuzhou to support the rebels.
Zhang Chang appointed his administrators and governors to run his domain, but the people he elected were cruel and plundered their territory.
Tao Kan's group defeated Zhang Chang multiple times and reportedly killed tens of thousands of his followers.
After a devastating rout, Zhang Chang fled to Mount Xiajun (下儁山; in present-day Changsha, Hunan) as the rest of his soldiers surrendered to Jin.