"[1] Until 1966, Tan headed the Conservatory's violin section and became involved in the establishment of China's first violin-making factory.
During the Cultural Revolution, Tan was confined for 14 months in a tiny, dark closet under a stairwell at the Conservatory.
He suffered regular beatings and denunciations before being released to work as a janitor.
[2] When the Cultural Revolution ended, he became the vice-director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
[3] Tan features prominently in Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai's Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese and in Murray Lerner's 1979 documentary, From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.