Tang was a native of
Hangzhou in
Zhejiang Province. In 1902, he was dispatched to Tokyo Japan, where he studied at the Seijo School in
Tokyo. After his return to China in 1904, he worked initially as a music teacher. He returned to Japan in 1907, studying at the Kanazawa Medical University in
Yokohama, and from there went to
Germany, where he obtained his medical degree from the
Humboldt University of Berlin. After his return to China in 1910, he was appointed to a post at the College of Physicians and has also served as deputy director of Zhejiang Hospital. In 1911, Tang became active in politics under the Zhejiang military clique. After the formation of the
Republic of China in 1912, he organized that
National Medical School, and became its first principal. In 1915, he became the president of the Pharmaceutical Society of China. In 1920, he made an extended visit to Europe. In July 1921, Tang was Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Education. Following the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Tang led a delegation of the
Red Cross Society of China to Japan for relief efforts, coordinating with
overseas Chinese residents in Japan. In 1926, he rose to the position of Inspector-General of the Ministry of Finance, ultimately succeeding his boss,
Pan Fu, in the job, for about six months. However, after the collapse of the Beiyang government in 1929, Tang returned to Japan, where he obtained his doctorate in medicine at the
Tokyo Imperial University. Returning to China in 1930, he served as a councilor to the
Northeastern Army command. In 1933, he returned to Beijing, where he helped organize a committee for political affairs. He helped negotiate the
Tanggu Truce with the
Imperial Japanese Army in 1936 and helped organize the
Hebei–Chahar Political Council. In 1937, Tang joined the
Provisional Government of the Republic of China under
Wang Kemin, serving as chairman of the legislative assembly and chairman of the educational committee. In 1939, he was appointed president of
Beijing University and concurrently Chairman of the Council of East Asian Culture. That same year, he gave the eulogy at the state funeral of
Wu Peifu. In 1940, with the formation of the
Reorganized National Government of China under
Wang Jingwei, Tang served on the North China Political Affairs Commission. It was largely assumed that Tang was Wang Kemin's successor, but Tang died of
lung cancer in Beijing in November 1940. ==References==