Zhang Ding (1917-2010) was from Heishan, Liaoning Province. He studied traditional Chinese painting (guohua) at the Peking School of Arts, went to Nanjing in 1936 as a cartoonist, and moved on to Yan'an in 1938. He taught at the Lu Xun Academy of Literature and Arts. In the 1950s he was a professor at the Central Academy of Art and Design in Beijing. Zhang was purged in 1957 as a Rightist, and again during the Cultural Revolution. In 1978 he was rehabilitated, and some years later appointed President of the Chinese Artists' Association.

Zhang specialized in design, mural and ink painting.