[1] His most famous legacy may be the lyrics he wrote for "March of the Volunteers" in 1934, which were later adopted as the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.

Returning from Japan in 1921, Tian established the Creation Society together with Guo Moruo and Yu Dafu, and other Chinese intellectuals.

[3] Tian was denounced in a 1 February 1966 People's Daily article entitled "Xie Yaohuan is a Big Poisonous Weed" (田汉的《谢瑶环》是一棵大毒草 Tián Hàn de Xiè Yáohuán Shì yī kē Dà Dúcǎo).

[6] Tian Han was the prototype for the figure of "Kuang Wentao" (played by Bo Gao) in the 1959 biopic Nie Er,[10] which retold the story of the composition of the Chinese National Anthem on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

His story was also told in The National Anthem, a 27-episode television series, and in the play Torrent (狂流, Kuángliú), produced in Beijing in the year 2000.