In his later years, he was known as the Old Man of Stubborn Stone. A native of Suzhou, Jiangsu, he was the grandson of Zhang Shaofeng, an imperial inspector of the Ming dynasty. From a young age, he was exceptionally intelligent, studying Confucianism while also delving into medicine. After the fall of the Ming dynasty, he abandoned Confucianism to focus on medicine, secluding himself in the Dongting Mountains for over a decade, practicing medicine and writing tirelessly into old age. After being away from his hometown for sixteen years, he compiled a volume of medical texts and brought it back to his hometown, hence naming it Medical Return. He published the Introduction to Cold-Damage Disease and Further Discussion on Cold-Damage Disease from this collection. During the Kangxi era, he revisited the incomplete manuscript of Medical Return, revised it from the beginning, and renamed it Medical Compendium (Zhangshi Yitong). He also authored The Essence of Diagnosis in one volume (1680), focusing on pulse theory; Benjing Fengyuan in four volumes (1695), and Exegesis of the Qianjin Prescriptions in thirty volumes, among others. Later generations compiled his works into Seven Medical Books of the Zhang Family (also known as Zhangshi Yitong).