From early on, Chang expressed an affinity for literature, history, and philosophy. As a young man, he made stabs at a number of different literary genres, and was a trailblazer in the development of Chinese sci-fi in the 1960s.
自幼熱愛文、史、哲的張系國，年輕時就勇於嘗試各種創作文類，在中文科幻小說混沌初開的一九六○年代，他扮演起披荊斬棘的拓荒者角色。