Zhang became an enthusiastic advocate of European ideas of social Darwinism, scientific racism, and eugenics, changing his personal name to Jingsheng, "competition for survival".

He was an active member of the Beijing Tongmenghui cell alongside Wang Jingwei, but declined a political post in the aftermath of the 1911 Revolution, instead studying in France.

He published his first two books in the early 1920s, where he outlined a society based around aesthetic principles, advocating a form of positive eugenics to overcome what he perceived as the weaknesses of the Chinese race.

He also edited a monthly periodical he named New Culture; this saw significant censorship from the Shanghai Municipal Police due to the inclusion of a sexual advice column run by Zhang.

[3] Zhang first attended a traditional private elementary school in a nearby village, where his teacher gave him the name Gongshi (公室; 'state bureaucracy'), derived from the work of ancient philosopher Li Si.

Taking advantage of the suspension, they traveled with a friend to Singapore and met with Tongmenghui leader Sun Yat-sen. Another revolutionary, Hu Hanmin, advised Zhang to return to China and infiltrate the Qing New Army.

[7][8][9] Zhang returned in 1910, instead seeking to continue his studies; this was only allowed by his father after he was forced to accept an arranged marriage with an illiterate fifteen-year-old girl named Xu Chunjiang.

Introduced to theories of scientific racism, Zhang became convinced that the Chinese race suffered from pathological androgyny – featuring "feminized men" and "masculinized women" – which could only be resolved through eugenics.

He initiated a number of reforms at the school, such as an overhaul of teachers, co-education, physical education classes, the abandonment of rote learning, and English-language instruction.

[16][20][21] Following systemic collection of folk songs by Gu Jiegang, Zhou Zuoren, and Liu Bannong in the late 1910s, a periodical entitled Folksongs Weekly was created and attracted the attention of social academics at Peking, including Zhang.

He outlined sample Customs Survey Questionnaires and field research methods, seeking to compile information from different Chinese ethnic groups on around forty topics ranging from food to crime to personal hygiene.

[22] In February 1926, Zhang published an announcement in the Jingbao Fukan entitled "The Best Pasttime for the Winter Vacation: An Announcement Made on Behalf of the Eugenics Society", advocating for readers to submit detailed accounts of their sex lives; prompts included with the advertisement asked readers to recount a variety of experiences, such as their earliest exposure to sexuality, their methods of masturbation, their preferred sexual positions, whether they have had homosexual experiences, and whether they have engaged in bestiality.

One particularly successful parody by comic playwright Xu Zhuodai, entitled The Art of Sex (性藝; Xìngyì), featured Zhang being visited and pleasured by various women with different sexual skills, ending with his death after his penis is bitten off by a visitor's puppy.

[34] Several regional and local governments, including Shanghai and Guangzhou, instituted bans of the book and its parodies, raiding bookstores to prevent distribution.

[35] Despite the backlash, some academics supported the book; novelist Lin Yutang wrote that it was instrumental in changing the "physical and mental outlook of Chinese girls".

Conditions for professors at Peking University had worsened by late 1926; the chaotic political climate, characterized by violence such as the March 18 Massacre, had made Beijing dangerous to academics.

[38] Zhang initially considered an attempt to secure a position at the Commercial Press, one of the three major publishing firms in Shanghai,[c] but decided against it due to the company's conservative stance.

To circumvent potential arrest or persecution, Zhang's residence was located within the French Concession, where the International Settlement's Shanghai Municipal Police had no jurisdiction.

[42][40] Outlining his purpose the journal, he wrote that he sought the renewal of the Chinese people in all aspects of life, "from the most basic to the most complex: from shitting, to sexual intercourse, and on to thinking and culture".

Its first issue was headlined with an article on women's inheritance rights, with endorsements from various influential politicians and intellectuals, including Cai Yuanpei, Wu Zhihui, and Zhang Ji.

Zhang ran an advice column titled "Sex Education Communications" (性慾通訊; Xìngyù Tōngxùn) in every issue of the paper besides the fifth, where it was noted the section had been removed by government censorship.

Zhang advised readers on topics such as birth control, circumcision, sex toys and premature ejaculation, incorporating both humor and sympathy into his responses.

According to Zhang, the police attempted to negotiate with him to remove the nude paintings and pay them a significant bribe; he claimed that when he refused, the Shanghai Post Office stopped delivering mail to his store, severely impacting his business.

For the example of rickshaw-pulling, Zhang posits that education on the mechanics of rickshaws and the proper posture, breathing, and gait while pulling them would transform the otherwise menial task into something enjoyable.

He believed that egg cells fertilized during orgasm, especially if preceded by elaborate foreplay, would be strengthened by the "Third Kind of Water", resulting in children with greater intelligence and physical strength.

He outlined a series of "control methods" for a husband to gain the affection of his wife, including sharing household chores, holding open-air dinners, and gifting flowers.

[62] He claimed that the vagina and labia minora would suction in the penis during sex if the woman was properly stimulated, allowing "the male and female organs to harmonize most perfectly", producing positive and negative currents.

[63][64] With flat chests seen as a symbol of purity and virginity, binding emerged among Chinese women at least by the late Qing period, although it may date as far back as the Ming dynasty.

[59][70][71] An article falsely published under his name praised breast binding, infuriating Zhang, who responded that he was the first man in China to take a strong stance against the practice.

[73][74] Writer and scholar Leo Ou-fan Lee described Zhang as an extremist, but cautions against interpreting his work as "the weird product of a deranged mind", writing that he intensified existing strains of modern Chinese philosophy (such as Liang Qichao's idea of the 'new citizen') to their most extreme form.