He became widely known in China for his biographies of the mathematician Chen Jingrun (Goldbach's Conjecture) and the geologist Li Siguang (The Light of Geology).
He chose the pen name Xu Chi (meaning "late") as he wanted to live an unhurried life, although he later said he did not succeed at that.
[4] He visited the battlefield of the Korean War twice and the construction sites of Anshan Steel and the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge multiple times.
He published a number of poetry and essay collections in this period, including War, Peace, Progress and Songs of the Republic.
He published several books in this period, including the acclaimed Under the Qilian Mountains (祁连山下), about the art scholar Chang Shuhong and the geologist Sun Jianchu (孙健初).
[3] After the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), during which numerous intellectuals and scientists were persecuted and murdered by Red Guards, Xu wrote The Light of Geology (地质之光), highlighting the contributions of the geologist Li Siguang.
[4] Xu was awarded the National Reportage Literature Prize three times, for The Light of Geology, Goldbach's Conjecture, and Xingtian Wu Ganqi (刑天舞干戚), which is about the construction of the Gezhouba Dam.