Zhang ZhidongWade-Giles romanization Chang Chih-tungPinyin Zhang
Zhidong, courtesy name (Wade–Giles romanization) Hsiao-ta zi)
Xiaoda  ( born Sept. 2, 1837 , Hsing-i, Kweichow
Province Xingyi, Guizhou province, China—died Oct. 4, 1909 ) 
Chinese classicist and provincial official, one of the foremost
reformers of his time.  Chang Zhang was born to a family of
scholar–officials in Kweichow Province, scholar-officials in
Xingyi, Guizhou province, but, in accordance with Chinese
custom, he was considered native to Nan-p’i, Chihli (modern
Hopeh) ProvinceNanpi (in present-day Hebei) province, where his
ancestors had settled in the 15th century. He was unusually
precocious as a student, passing his first-level civil service
examinations at the age of 13 and all of the examinations by the
time he was 26. His literary talent and the fame he won from it
were the foundations on which his career rested.  Chang’s
Zhang’s experience as an official fell into two broad phases:
from 1862 to 1882 he was a scholar and educatio