Born in Xiangshan, Guangdong province, he studied in Robert Morrison's missionary schools as a boy and his classmates included Yung Wing.

Because of the knowledge of English he obtained employment in the Hong Kong colonial government between 1851–57 and 1857–61, he served the Chinese Maritime Customs Service as interpreter and chief secretary.

In 1861, he joined the Jardine Matheson Company, initially as a travelling salesman, visiting the various Yangtze River ports.

[1] Tang authored the work The Chinese Instructor, a six-volume series of dialogues, published in 1862.

Between 1873 and 1884 he served as the general manager of China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company in Shanghai, after which he worked in the coalmines in Kaiping in Zhili until his death in 1892.