{{short description|Chinese constitutional law professor}} {{Infobox philosopher |image = Zhang Qianfan 2018 07 09.jpg |caption = Zhang in 2018 |birth_date = January 1964 |birth_place = [[Nanjing]], [[Jiangsu]], China |name = Zhang Qianfan |era = [[Constitutional law]] |alma_mater = [[University of Texas at Austin]]<br>[[Carnegie-Mellon University]]<br>[[Nanjing University]] |module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes|hide=no |s = 张千帆 |t = 張千帆 |p = Zhāng Qiānfān}} }}
'''Zhang Qianfan''' ({{lang|zh|张千帆}}; born January 1964) is a constitutional law [[professor]] at [[Peking University Law School]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Qianfan Zhang, Ph.D. |url=https://www.wiko-berlin.de/en/fellows/academic-year |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=Qianfan Zhang, Ph.D. |language=en-US}}</ref> and an activist who advocates constitutionalism in China and has called for China's general political and judicial reform.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Edward |last2=Ansfield |first2=Jonathan |date=2013-02-03 |title=Reformers Aim to Get China to Live Up to Own Constitution |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/world/asia/reformers-aim-to-get-china-to-live-up-to-own-constitution.html |access-date=2023-02-07 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Life == Zhang was born in [[Nanjing]] and raised in Shanghai. He is an [[Alumni|alumnus]] of [[Nanjing University]], where he studied Solid State Physics as an undergraduate. He earned a [[CUSPEA]] scholarship to attend [[Carnegie-Mellon University]], Pittsburgh, PA, where he received a PhD degree in [[biophysics]] in 1989. After 2 years of doing postdoctoral research, he attended the [[University of Maryland]] to study law but dropped out after the first year because he could not afford the tuition. In 1995, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the [[University of Texas at Austin]] and received a PhD degree in Governmental Theory in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://en.law.pku.edu.cn/faculty/faculty1/11786.htm|title=Professor Zhang Qianfan, Constitutional and Administrative Law_Peking University Law School|website=en.law.pku.edu.cn|access-date=2016-11-07|archive-date=2016-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107221353/http://en.law.pku.edu.cn/faculty/faculty1/11786.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Zhang left the United States and taught law at Nanjing University in 1999. He later became a constitutional law professor at the [[Peking University Law School]] in [[Beijing]]. He also serves as senior deputy director of Peking University Administrative and Constitutional Law Center and director of the Law School's Congress and Parliamentary Studies Centre.{{fact|date=December 2024}}
== Academics == {{Contemporary Chinese political thought}} He is the author of several hundreds academic publications. His book ''Constitutional System in the West'' helped introduce western constitutionalism in Chinese. His book ''The Constitution of China: A Contextual Analysis'' was published in the United States in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bloomsbury.com |title=The Constitution of China |url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/the-constitution-of-china-9781841137407/ |access-date=2016-11-07 |website=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref>
== Event == In February 2019, his textbook, ''Study of Constitutional Law: Principles and Applications'' was withdrawn from book stores and university teaching materials in China, as part of a nationwide check on constitutional law textbooks launched by the [[Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Education]] earlier that year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKCN1PQ45T-OCATP|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724081338/https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKCN1PQ45T-OCATP|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 24, 2019|title=Disappearing textbook highlights debate in China over academic freedom|website=ca.reuters.com|access-date=2019-07-24}}</ref> Zhang stated in response that "As an academic discipline, constitutional law should not be politicized. If it is, there will be no knowledge, as politicization and knowledge are incompatible". He also noted that this development represented a "retreat" from China's own constitution, of which Article 35 guarantees freedoms of speech and publication.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2019/02/translation-zhang-qianfan-on-censorship-of-teaching-materials/|title=Translation: Zhang Qianfan on Academic Censorship|website=chinadigitaltimes.net|date=8 February 2019 |access-date=2019-07-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://en.people.cn/constitution/constitution.html|title=CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA|website=en.people.cn|access-date=2019-07-24}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Qianfan}} [[Category:1964 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Chinese legal scholars]] [[Category:Academic staff of Peking University]] [[Category:Nanjing University alumni]] [[Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni]] [[Category:University System of Maryland alumni]] [[Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni]]