Qiu Xigui

Career

After finishing his graduate studies in 1960, Qiu was assigned to be a teaching assistant in the Department of Chinese of Peking University (PKU). From 1964 to 1966, Qiu, like many other intellectuals, was sent down to the countryside to be "reeducated by peasants" as part of Mao's Socialist Education Movement. He was sent to Jiangling County, Hubei and Yanqing County, Beijing. During the subsequent Cultural Revolution, he worked as a labourer at a farm in Jiangxi province from 1969 to 1971.

In 1972, Qiu participated in the study of Han dynasty documents excavated from Mawangdui, under the leadership of Zhu Dexi. From 1974 to 1976, he worked under Zhu at the Wenwu (Cultural Relics) Publishing House, where they researched the Yinqueshan Han Slips and other excavated bamboo and wooden slips. He became an associate professor at PKU in 1978 and a full professor in 1983.

From 1982 to 1983, Qiu taught Chinese palaeography at University of Washington in Seattle as a visiting scholar. From February to July 1998, he gave lectures on palaeography and ancient literature at the Chinese department of National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. In November 2000, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Chicago.

In 2005, Qiu returned to his alma mater Fudan University to lead its Center for Research on Chinese Excavated Classics and Palaeography.

Death

Qiu died in Shanghai on 8 May 2025, at the age of 89.