Statism In 1936, Chang translated and promoted
Johann Gottlieb Fichte's speeches, the work of
Erich Ludendorff and the theory of "
total war" into Chinese. Two years later, in 1938, he advanced the concept of "State Socialism", urging Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei to adopt a statist orientation in governance. In the same year, he published
The Way to Establish the Nation, in which he argued that between narrow nationalism and the ideal of universal harmony, the nation-state must first establish its own foundation before pursuing global unity, a sequence he described as the natural progression of human development. These activities led to widespread criticism that he was sympathetic to Nazism. Chang rejected the accusation, arguing that
Nazism should be understood as "National Socialism," which he distinguished from his own theory of State Socialism.
Confucianism Chang was known for his defense of Confucian culture and his attempt to reconcile it with democratic socialism. In 1940, he published a critique of Hu Shih, rejecting Hu’s call to "overthrow Confucianism" and instead emphasizing Confucius as the foundation of Chinese cultural heritage. In 1955, Chang released a work criticizing leftist historians, particularly
Guo Moruo, for attributing China’s feudal legacy to Confucian thought. In 1955, he published
The Independence of the Republic of China and the Future of Asia, which devoted significant attention to advocating a revival of Neo-Confucian philosophy.In 1958, Chang, together with
Tang Chun-i,
Xu Fuguan, and
Mou Zongsan, co-authored
A Manifesto for a Re-appraisal of Sinology and Reconstruction of Chinese Culture, an article widely regarded as a declaration of the New Confucian movement. As a democratic socialist, Chang often cited the
Datong chapter of the
Book of Rites to argue that Confucian philosophy and democratic socialism were fully compatible. According to Professor Yu-shan Chang of
DePauw University, Chang should not be regarded as a Confucian conservative, but rather as someone who reinterpreted Confucian values in a new and progressive light.
Democracy As the widely-regarded father of the
Constitution of the Republic of China. Chang was influenced by ideas related to
Jeffersonian democracy.
Economic Policy Chang supported German-style
social democracy while opposing
capitalism,
communism, and
guild socialism. He supported
socialization of major industries such as railroads and mines to be run by a combination of government officials, technicians, and consumers., and the development of a
mixed economy in China, like that advocated by the
Social Democratic Party of Germany under
Philipp Scheidemann. Chang argued that policies such as the
Factory Act,
Workers' Insurance Act, land redistribution, and the implementation of a profit-sharing system were not inherently socialist. He maintained that the true essence of socialism lay in the concept of “social ownership” (). Chang further elaborated on three essential conditions of social ownership. First, public ownership of land and major means of production: this included land, large forests, transportation systems, and heavy industries—sources of what he described as “rent and interest,” the primary causes of inequality between rich and poor. These, he argued, should be abolished. However, personal possessions such as food, clothing, books, and the income derived from individual labor (; "wages") should remain private. Second, public management: this addressed the question of how production should be administered. In addition to traditional models of state and local enterprise, Chang proposed the concept of “economic self-governing associations,” in which each industry would form an autonomous unit jointly managed by producers, consumers, employers, workers, and the state. Third, distribution of profits for public benefit: the surplus of any enterprise, beyond what was needed for its own development, should first be distributed among its managers and workers, and the remainder allocated to public expenditures such as education, elder care, and child welfare. Regarding the
Soviet Union, Chang acknowledged that its policy of state ownership had provided intellectual inspiration to the world, but he criticized the Soviet system for disturbing social order, undermining productivity, and suppressing the people’s spontaneity. ==Legacy and assessment==