Qi belonged to the Aisin Gioro clan, the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty in China.

The character of Qi (启) used in Qigong's name was a generation name of the ruling Aisin-Gioro clan as dictated by the Qing Imperial Family during the time of the Xianfeng Emperor.

He continued to pursue his love of art and knowledge and managed to become a private student of leading scholars and painters.

He was also a learned scholar in the areas of Chinese ancient song lyrics, phonology, semantics, and Dream of the Red Chamber study, and published extensively in these fields.

He also began to develop the eye of an art connoisseur by frequenting the Forbidden City, the imperial palace of Qing Dynasty.

For nearly 30 years, Qi was so busy working as a college teacher that he almost totally abandoned painting and focused on calligraphy in his spare time.

As a renowned artist, Qi Gong served as vice-chairman and later chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers' Association.

An outstanding connoisseur of Chinese calligraphy and painting, he worked as director of the National Relics Evaluation Committee.

Despite the fact that he also chaired the Chinese Calligraphers' Association and served as a senior scholar on a team of national experts on cultural relics, Qi Gong was always unassuming, both among his peers and towards other artists.

Before his death in 2005, he was the honorary president of Chinese Calligraphers' Association, director of Cultural Relic Authentication Committee of the State Council, professor of Beijing Normal University, and member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

At Beijing Normal University, where Qi Gong taught classical Chinese language and literature for more than 60 years, teachers and students mourned their professor's death.

Qi Gong's death was also met with sadness by the public, and has been especially felt by the country's artists, calligraphers, and art collectors.