Zhan was born on 1 November 1937 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, Republic of China. After attending Yangzhou High School, Taizhou Normal School, and Shanghai Industrial Management School, he worked in a factory in Harbin from 1954 to 1957.[1]
In September 1957, Zhan entered Northeast Normal University to study history, and was hired as a faculty member after graduating in July 1961. In 1979, he studied ancient Chinese history with the eminent scholar Xu Zhongshu at Sichuan University.[1][2]
Zhan became an associate professor of Northeast Normal University in 1983 and a full professor in 1988. He also served as vice chair of the Department of History, Vice President of the university (1986–1994), and Chief Editor of the university's publishing house (1996–1998).[1][2]
Zhan's research was focused on early Chinese civilization, pre-Qin history and documents, and ancient rites. He wrote several influential books, including Pre-Qin History (先秦史), Approaching the Xia Civilization (走近夏代文明), The History and Civilization of the Xia Dynasty (夏史与夏代文明), and A History of Ancient China (中国古代史), which has been widely used as a textbook in Chinese universities. He also published more than 50 academic papers.[1][3]
Zhan was a co-founder of the China Pre-Qin History Society and served as President of Jilin Province History Society.[1]
On 12 February 2019, Zhan died in Changchun, at the age of 81.[1][3]
