Ch'ien's biographer Jerry Dennerlien described his childhood world as the "small peasant cosmos" of rituals, festivals, and beliefs held the family system together.

With help from the Yale-China Association, along with Tang Chun-i, Tchang Pi-kai and other scholars, Ch'ien co-founded New Asia College.

Publicly, he reasons that he wanted to devote more time to his scholarship, but in private revealed that he felt that the college had lost its freedom and might eventually disappear.

Ch'ien relocated to Taiwan in October 1967 after accepting an invitation from President Chiang Kai-shek, in response to the 1967 Hong Kong riots.

He was given land in Waishuangxi in the Shilin District to build his home Sushulou (素書樓) while continuing as a freelance academic researching and giving lectures at universities in Taiwan.

By the time of his death in 1990, his objections to the rejection of tradition of Confucianism had gained wider credence, partly through the influence of his student at New Asia College, Yu Ying-shih.

[7] Ch'ien Mu was an extremely industrious and prolific scholar who had about 76 works published during his life, which exceeded 17 000 000 words in total.

It could be argued, however, the opposition is based upon the critics' support of the New Culture Movement's legacies, which Ch'ien explicitly rejected.