 In 1922, Zhang and his old partner Zheng Zhengqiu, together with Zhou Jianyun (周剑云), Zheng Zhegu (郑鹧鸪), and Ren Jinping (任矜萍), founded the Mingxing (Star) Film Company.As a Western-influenced businessman, Zhang's main priority was profit, which differed from that of Zheng Zhengqiu, a playwright from an aristocratic family who emphasized cinema's role in social reform and moral enlightenment.The company's earliest films, such as "The King of Comedy Visits Shanghai" (1922), were mainly entertainment-oriented, but Zhang also directed Zheng's moralistic films such as "Orphan Rescues Grandfather" (1923), which was a box-office success.