Viceroy of Liangjiang
He succeeded Liu Kunyi as Viceroy of Liangjiang in 1901, and moved to Nanjing, where he laid the foundations for the modern University of Nanjing. Zhang Zhidong, along with Liu Kunyi and Wei Guangtao, were the founders of Sanjiang Normal College. Zhang espoused Japanese educational system and principles, and announced his plan to hire 12 Japanese teachers(教习) in a communication with Moriyoshi Nagaoka () before the establishment of the college.