When a boat carrying the provincial Peking opera troupe capsized, drowning a number of musicians, the door was opened for Tan to return to Changsha to serve as fiddle-player with the model opera academy. Once the Cultural Revolution came to an end, musicians all over the country burst back into life.
文革結束前，因為一艘載滿京劇演員的船沈沒失事，不少音樂家不幸喪命，譚盾因而有機會回長沙，擔任樣板戲劇院的小提琴手。