Chang Chih-tung (1837-1909) was a Chinese official and reformer. A brilliant Confucian scholar, he was convinced of the peerless quality of China's traditional culture. However, to preserve it, he introduced Western-type industry, education, and military techniques.

During the 19th century China became progressively aware of the necessity of borrowing increments of Western civilization if the country was to remain independent of foreign domination. By the 1860s officials such as Tseng Kuo-fan favored only the manufacture of Western armaments. At the end of the century K'ang Yu-wei and others advocated even the adoption of Western political institutions. Chang Chih-tung stood between these two extremes, making significant economic and even educational innovations, but only as a means of preserving what he regarded as the essence of Chinese culture.

Chang Chih-tung was born on Sept. 2, 1837, in northern China near Peking. His family had served as government officials for generations, and he...