Zhang Lan
Chinese politician and revolutionary
Zhang Lan (simplified Chinese: 张澜; traditional Chinese: 張瀾; pinyin: Zhāng Lán; April 2, 1872 – February 1955), courtesy name Biaofang (表方), was a Chinese political activist best known for being the chairman of the China Democratic League from its founding in 1941 until his death in 1955.
Biography
Zhang was born into a scholarly family in Nanchong, Sichuan on April 2, 1872. Witnessing the turmoil at the end of the Qing dynasty, Zhang was attracted to the reformist views of Liang Qichao, and he joined the group advocating constitutional monarchy for China. In 1911, Zhang was vice-chairman of the committee of shareholders that opposed the planned nationalization of the projected Sichuan-Hankou railroad. The protests against the plan swelled into an uprising that was easily quelled by authorities.
Zhang remained a political leader in Sichuan province. In 1916, he organized a small force to act against Yuan Shikai, but Yuan died before the troops saw any action. Zhang served briefly in 1920 as governor of Sichuan province. In the following years, however, Zhang focused primarily on education. He served as president of Chengdu Normal College for two years before becoming president of Chengdu University in 1928.
The public source identifies “Zhang Lan” as chinese politician and revolutionary. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Zhang, Chinese and politician.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8308839. VIAF identifies the subject as 43302322. The Library of Congress control number is n85360178. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1872, 1955, 1941 and 1911.
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This entry incorporates text from “Zhang Lan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.