After passing the provincial imperial examination at age 23 and the metropolitan one at 24, he came under the tutelage of Li Hongzao and quickly rose to prominence.

Zhang was one of the foremost members of the so-called Purist Party (清流黨) led by Zhang Zhidong, an extremist group which urged resistance to French encroachment in north Vietnam in the early 1880s, even at the cost of war with France, in opposition to the more moderate stance advocated by Li Hongzhang and his supporters.

[1] Ignoring repeated advice, including those from Zhan Tianyou, Zhang had made no serious attempt to coordinate the resistance of the Fujian fleet and absconded from the frontline.

Zhang was demoted by the Empress Dowager Cixi on 19 September 1884 and replaced by the veteran general Zuo Zongtang.

He and his family moved to Nanjing after the wedding and Zhang, with the help of his wife, began editing the various works that he had begun writing while in exile.