Pang Tong was from Xiangyang Commandery (襄陽郡; present-day Xiangyang, Hubei). He initially served as a minor official in Nan Commandery (南郡; around present-day Jingzhou, Hubei) before becoming an adviser to the warlord Liu Bei in 209. In the early 210s, he accompanied Liu Bei on a campaign to seize control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) from the warlord Liu Zhang. He was killed by a stray arrow in a battle at Luo County (雒縣; north of present-day Guanghan, Sichuan) in 214.