General Tan was a native of Hunan province in central China, like the leader of the Chinese Communist revolution, the late Mao Zedong, and joined in an unsuccessful peasant uprising led by Mao in the autumn of 1927 against the Nationalist Government of Chiang Kai-shek.
The General held political posts in the army throughout the civil war against the Nationalists, which ended in 1949 with Communist victory. In 1954, he became Deputy Defense Minister and later was named head of the army's General Political Department. He lost both posts in the 1960's, shortly before being purged during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76. Promoted to General of the Army in 1955 (Equivalent to 4 Stars).

Tan was one of the leaders of the Chinese Army in the Korean War. He also took part in the organization of Land Reform. In November.1956, Tan attended The Eighth National People's Congress and he was elected as the Secretary of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. During the Great Cultural Revolution, he was held in prison for nine years. After his release, he couldn't work anymore because of the illness. Tan Zheng was politically rehabilitated in 1979, and died in Beijing in 1988.