He was ordained a priest on December 22, 1934, in Rome and he shortly thereafter returned to China to work in the diocese of Baoding.
Bishop Fan, as well as many other Catholics loyal to the successor of Peter, would not renounce the Pope's authority and he voiced criticism of the CPA.
In 1958, Bishop Fan was arrested and sent to a penal farm (a type of forced labour camp) until he was released in 1969.
He was released in 1979; however, he was arrested again in 1982 for "colluding with foreign forces to jeopardize the sovereignty and security of the motherland"[2] (it was alleged he had had contacts with the Vatican and was secretly ordaining priests in his diocese).
Bishop Fan died of pneumonia on April 13, 1992, according to the director of the liaison department of the Catholic Patriotic Association.