Chinese official who tried to turn China into a modern state, b. 2 September 1837 (Hsing-i, Kweichow province, China), d. 4 October 1909 (China).
Chang was the son of a provincial official and was set on a career in public service from an early age. He passed his first civil service examinations when he was 13 and had completed all examinations at the age of 26.
For the next 20 years Chang worked as an educational director. In 1882 he was appointed governor of Shansi, in 1884 governor general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. In 1889 he was transferred to Hunan and Hupeh, and in 1907 he was summoned to the court in Beijing (Peking) to become grand secretary and grand councillor.
Chang supported the imperial system and Confucianism as the basis for Chinese society but was deeply concerned about the growing gap between the once so advanced Chinese civilization and the development in the western world. He tried to find ways to modernize China without giving up traditional values and structures. He advocated the acquisiton of western technology and science and took steps in that direction.
Not all his actions were well-advised - in an effort to strengthen Chinas military power he imported a complete smelting plant for iron ore from England and built China's first steel works in a region with the wrong ore and far from coal supplies - but others were more successful. During his period in Hunan and Hupeh he organized the construction of a railway line between Hankow and Beijing, which was completed in 1906. At the same time he industrialized the region under his control, setting up mills for paper, cotton and wool, tanneries, a tile factory and other plants. In Nanking he organized the training of a new army by German instructors.
China's defeat in the war against Japan of 1895 showed Chang that the pace of reform had to be accelerated and that this required the training of large numbers of Chinese. His famous Ch'üan-hsüeh p'ien ("Exhortation to Learning"), published in 1898, contains a plan for a modern education system based on Confucianism: establishment of a school system, translation of western and Japanese books, scholarships for students to study abroad, subscription to foreign newspapers. His plan was put into practice in Hupeh province, which in 1908 supported 475 students for studies in Japan and 103 in western countries.
The Imperial government put Chang in charge of the development of a national education system. His draft plan, submitted in 1904, described all aspects of a new public education system including curricula and vocational training from kindergarten to research academies. To establish the broad student base required for such a program Chang urged the abolition of the millenium-old civil service examinations, which was done in 1905. As a result of Chang's efforts the number of schools increased more than 70-fold in the five years 1904 - 1909 and the number of students more than 200-fold.
During the Boxer Rebellion Chang consulted with governors of other provinces and decided to ignore the Imperial order to kill all foreigners. He came to agreements with the foreign consuls in his province and was able to maintain peace.
Apart from the occasional setback (such as the iron-and-steel works) Chang was a capable administrator, benevolent to the public and well-liked. Unlike other officials of his time he did not enrich himself and on occasions was even short of money - once he had to pawn his belongings while being governor general. Posthumously he received the highly valued title "Wen-hsiang" (Learned and Accomplished). Would he have served under a better government than that of the late Ch'ing Dynasty, Chang could have achieved much more for his country.