[2][3] 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 February to July 1998, he gave lectures on palaeography and ancient literature at the Chinese department of National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan.

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

[2] According to American sinologist Edward L. Shaughnessy, the book is the "single most influential study of Chinese palaeography", and "universally acclaimed to be the definitive overview" of the field.

[2][3] In 2012, the Collected Works of Qiu Xigui (裘锡圭学术文集), comprising six volumes and three million characters, was published by Fudan University Press.