His ancestors made their fortune through good military service so they had the privilege of hereditary military officer. It was a wealthy family. Zhang Shoufeng, his father was good at liberal arts and art of healing. He was a frequent caller of the mansion of nobility. At the age of 14 Zhang Jiebin started to visit the nobilities in the capital with his father. Since he was naturally bright and talented, he made research on The Book of Changes (I Ching), Taoist theory, astronomy, geography, music and art of war. He made many friends with capable people. He was also interested in medicine and learned from Jin Mengshi, a famous physician in the capital.

At the age of 20 he followed his family's steps to join the army. He traveled wildly in northern China and made friends with nobilities. He wanted to bring his initiative into full play. But at that time his parents were getting old, he determined to fulfill his filial duty. He was demobilized and began a new career. He returned to his former study of medicine. After he concentrated his research on medical classics he was able to practice medicine. And soon he was well known for his superb medical skills.

According to a story recorded in his book Jingyue's Complete Works, a country squire named Mr. Ni usually visited Zhang to deal with his health problems. One day in late summer, Ni suddenly spitted out blood seriously accompanied by hemafecia. His family members were terrified and tried to get help from Zhang. But it happened that Zhang was not in the town. Another physician was invited to treat the patient. After examination the physician thought the patient was suffering from a heat pattern, for which medicinals cold in nature were prescribed. The condition deteriorated after taking the medicinals. The family members went to ask about the reason, the physician answered because the patient was actually seriously ill, so it was difficult to save his life. The son of the patient was frightened and angry when he heard what the physician said, he immediately rushed to invite Zhang to help his father. After examination Zhang also felt it was a critical condition and he was in two minds as to what to do next. But when he thought the patient was his devoted friend, he had to try his best to help him. After making detailed analysis he was certain that the patient's spleen was injured owing to overwork. Previously the patient had been given herbal medicinals cold in nature, which further injured the spleen. Zhang determined to give large amount of herbal medicinals warm in nature. The patient did not response to the first dose of the herbal decoction he took, but spitting blood was relieved and better pulse condition seen after taking the second dose. Zhang was sure his pattern differentiation was correct. He increased the dosage of the herbal medicinals. After taking the herbal decoction again the patient slept on both ears. When he woke up he felt much better. Afterwards he was treated the same way as before and in 10 days, he was on the mend.

When Zhang was treating the patient, a relative of the patient who had some knowledge of medicine observed him keenly. He was frightened to see Zhang prescribed many herbal medicinals warm in nature instead of herbal medicinals cold in nature because spitting blood was usually caused by intense heat. It meant pouring oil on the fire and the consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate. But he knew well that Zhang was good at adopting the therapy with herbal medicinals warm in nature, which was different from other physicians' therapy. Then he continued to look on coldly. Until the patient was on the mend, the spectator understood Zhang's super ability.

Besides practice of medicine, Zhang thought of writing books and setting up theory. He found that The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine (Huang Di Nei Jin) was not easy to understand and many physicians did not study it well but only interested in hunting for secret recipes. He hated such practice so he wrote The Classified Classic based on his classification, annotation and explanation of The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine. In 1624 AD The Classified Classic (32 volumes) was published, which not only had some new theoretical ideas, but also new explanations. Its train of thought was more open, so it was an important reference book for those who studied The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine. Huang Zongxi, a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty (1368‒1644 AD) valued the book highly, saying in about two dozen of years, The Classified Classic was the top writing, from which we know it was a best seller.

Jingyue's Complete Works was his another masterpiece, which included 64 volumes. It was a minor encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine. The book recorded the doctrines and theories of various schools of thought and exponents together with his clinical experience. The book contained valuable information, which has been learned by medical students of later generations. For example, the Ten Questions in Rhyme (Shi Wen Ge) listed in the book dealt with the conversation between the physician and patient, which covered the following questions: Question 1 about cold and heat, Question 2 about sweating, Question 3 about the condition of the head and body and Question 4 about excretion … This is a summary of “asking” in TCM diagnosis. It was written in rhyme easy to learn in mind. In addition, the Zuo Gui pills which replenished kidney-yin and You Gui pills which replenished kidney-yang mentioned in the book had excellent curative effect in history and they are the frequently-used formulas today.

Zhang was well-informed and refined. He is world-famous for his medical skills and achievements. He has been honored as the most brilliant physician throughout ages after Zhang Zhongjing (150‒219 AD), which tells us his important position in TCM history.