 His father died when Zhang was 16 years old, and he had to quit school and move to Shanghai to live with his maternal uncle Jing Runsan (经润三), a successful comprador.In Shanghai, he worked at the American-owned Huayang Company by day and studied English at night.In 1913, Yashell and Suffert, two Americans in Shanghai who had acquired the Asia Film Company, asked Zhang to be their consultant.