The first of his novels serialized was A Pining Song for the Southern Country (南国相思谱, Nanguo xiangsi pu, 1919).

His masterpieces A Family of Distinction (金粉世家, Jinfen shijia, 1927–32) and Fate in Tears and Laughter (啼笑因缘, Tixiao Yinyuan, 1930) were much more perspicaciously planned than his earlier books.

This work, perhaps the most representative of his 40-odd novels set during the War of Resistance against Japan, uses parables and dream sequences to satirize the corrupt bureaucracy.

Suffering a stroke in 1949, Zhang temporarily lost the ability to walk, but continued to write.

His works emphasize realistic dialogue, often interposing people from different social strata and were thus hugely popular amongst the Chinese public from 1920s to 1940s.