Female, nickname Fengsheng, formal name Wu, was born in Chongde County (now Tongxiang City), Shen Zemin's wife, and the first generation of revolutionary new women of the CPC, known as the "legendary general." She was smart and eager to learn since childhood. After entering the private school at the age of 9, she transferred to Zhenhua Female School and then was admitted to the Provincial Women's Normal School in Hangzhou. In the spring of 1913, she and her classmate Kong De(Shen Yanbing’s wife) transferred to Shanghai Patriotic Girls' School and met Shen Zemin, the younger brother of Shen Yanbing. Half a year later, she entered Nanjing Fine Arts College. Not a long time after she entered the college, she got typhoid fever and then suspended her schooling to go home for treatment. After recovering from illness, she took over classes for the absent teacher in Zhenhua Female School for several months. At that time, she was in contact with the society, deeply knew the political corruption, and that people suffered a lot. She didn’t know how to change this terrible situation, so she sent a letter to Shen Zemin.

Shen Zemin was already a member of the CPC. Seeing Qinqiu's lofty aspiration, he wrote many letters to enlighten her and sent progressive books and periodicals to her. Qinqiu accepted the revolutionary thoughts from then on. In the spring of 1914, she entered Shanghai University. Shanghai University was a new type school where the CPC promoted the Marxism-Leninism to train young cadres. Qu Qiubai, Zhang Tailei, Deng Zhongxia and others had taught there. In April of that year, she joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League; in November, she joined the CPC. During in Shanghai University, dispatched by the Party, she founded a civilian school with her classmate Huang Lunxian in Yangshupu, recruiting more than 150 workers from the cotton mill nearby. They promoted the revolutionary principles to them and developed members of the Party and League. In the May 30th Movement, they entered factories to mobilize the female workers to insist on the strike activity.

In the winter of 1925, Zhang Qinqiu married Shen Zemin. At the end of the year, she was sent to Moscow Sun Yat-sen University (in 1916, renamed Moscow Chinese Communist Labor University) by the Party to study. After returning to China, she served as a member of the CPC's Hudong District Party Committee and engaged in the underground work of the Party. In March 1931, she was sent to the revolutionary base of Hubei, Henan and Anhui together with Shen Zemin, and began her fighting career. She was the only female general in the history of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In January 1924, she was elected as the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic.

In April 1949, she served as the first member of the Standing Committee of the All-China Women's Federation and the Minister of the Production Division, and later re-elected for two sessions. In October, the Central People's Government was established, she served as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Textile Industry of the People's Republic of China and Deputy Secretary of the CPC. Since then, she had been in charge of the textile industry for nearly 20 years, working diligently and conscientiously, making important contributions to the development of the textile industry. Zhang Qinqiu was a member of the first National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a representative of the first, second and third National People's Congress.

In the Cultural Revolution, Zhang Qinqiu was framed. On April 21, 1968, she jumped to death because of unbearable abuse. Her daughter Maya was also tortured and died. In June 1979, the Central Committee of the CPC rehabilitated them. The eulogy said: "Her life is the life of the revolution, of the battle, and of the wholehearted service for the people.”