Hierarchical porous texture is regarded as an ideal design for carboneous electrode materials of supercapacitors as it can present both high capacitance and good rate performance. Here, we propose a very simple and effective strategy to prepare nitrogen-doped, hierarchical porous carbons by direct pyrolysis of ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid disodium zinc salt, which plays multi-roles of carbon precursor, nitrogen source, hard template and activation agent all in one. During the pyrolysis process, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium zinc salt is firstly decomposed to a composite of nitrogen-doped carbon, nano-ZnO and Na2CO3 particles. The nano-ZnO and Na2CO3 particles are evenly embedded in the carbon matrix, acting as hard templates to create mesopores. Furthermore, the nano-ZnO also contributes to micropore creation as an activation agent at further increasing temperature. As a result, the nitrogen-doped, hierarchical porous carbons are easily obtained. The large surface area (1368 m(2) g(-1)) and high nitrogen content (6.71 at%) enable the carbon prepared at 700 degrees C exhibits a high capacitance of 275 F g(-1) and excellent rate capability (207 F g(-1) at 100 A g(-1)) in 6 mol L-1 KOH aqueous electrolytes, indicating a promising candidate as a carbon electrode material for supercapacitors.