Tian first encountered Mao Zedong's army in 1935 as it pushed through western China when he was eighteen years old.[1] Mao was trying to escape Kuomintang government forces at the time.[1] Tian joined Mao's army and became one of the few ethnic Tibetans who participated in the Long March, a retreat by Chinese Communist forces into northern China in 1935.[1]
Tian later held senior positions in the government and Chinese Communist Party of Tibet and Sichuan following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and the 1951 occupation of Tibet. Tian was appointed the deputy secretary of the Tibetan regional Communist Party after its establishment in 1965.[1] This was considered to be a high-profile post for an ethnic Tibetan at the time.[1]
Tian Bao died on 21 February 2008, at the age of 92 in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan, PR China.[1] Officials said he died of an unspecified illness, but gave no further details.[1]
He was an alternate member of 8th Central Committee of CPC, and a full member of 9th to 11th Central Committees; A member of 12th and 13th Central Advisory Commission; a deputy to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th National People's Congress; a standing committee member of 1st CPPCC.[2]
