[3] Tang engaged with the writings of Chinese physicians like Wang Qingren [zh], whereas his frequent trips to Shanghai, a port city, also exposed him to Western medicine.

[4] Instead of joining the civil service, as many of his peers who had been successful in the imperial examinations did, he decided to pursue a career in medicine.

Beginning his practice in Sichuan, one of Tang's earliest writings was published in 1884 and concerned blood disorders.

[3][6][7] Tang's 1892 work, Zhongxi huitong yijing jingyi (中西匯通醫經精義),[a] has been described as "one of the most influential medical texts" of his time.

[5] Sometime after the publication of Zhongxi huitong yijing jingyi, Tang wrote Yiyi tongshuo (醫易通說), or A Generalised Account of Medicine and the Classic of Changes, in which he argues that the ancient Chinese text I Ching (Classic of Changes) included ideas that had hitherto been thought of as uniquely Western.