By 1928 at the age of 18 years, with the support of relatives, he was recommended by the teachers to re-enter school for a period of formal art education.

When he initially created Sanmao in 1935 his main goal was to convey the hardship of the Japanese aggression in China through the eyes of the children, especially orphans.

In the same year, he contracted severe Parkinson's disease; in spite of the difficulty in drawing he consequently encountered, he continued his cartooning career.

In his later years, Zhang Leping devoted great enthusiasm to the cultural exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

In the winter of the same year, Zhang decided to donate the manuscript of San Mao to the Shanghai Art Museum.

[6] A public trial was held in 1997 in the First Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai to settle the lawsuit of who owned the rights to the Sanmao character and comics after the death of the author.