The primary focus of Zhang Yajuan's research is on Chinese maritime history. In the past fifteen years, her research has focused on the study of piracy in the Qing Dynasty; she has published a monograph entitled Pirates and Sailors in the Jiaqing Period of the Qing Dynasty. She has also researched Chinese society and contemporary popular culture, and published a book titled Image Communication of the Calamity and Reflections on Communication Studies. In recent years, her research has shifted attention to the subject of female pirates in the Qing Dynasty, a period in which several notable female pirates were active who were valiant and intrepid, and whose stories were spread globally by Westerners who visited China during that period.
In her present research project, the interaction between Chinese maritime civilisations and global oceanic societies will be examined in further detail, along with the process of formation of this interaction. The implications of this interaction will also be considered.