The origin of his family can be traced back to Qian Chu, king of wuyue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Since the Five Dynasties, the Qian family has been a prominent family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, with the same vein. The Qian family in Wuxi is a typical "cultural family" and attaches importance to academic culture. The Qian family in Wuxi has two branches, Houshan and Hutou, and is the thirty-second grandson of Wusu Wang (Qian Liu, the founding king of Wu Yue State in the Five Dynasties), a branch in the west of Houshan.
Qian Xuesen's father Qian Junfu (1880— 1969) was a famous scholar, and later he used Chinese characters. His ancestral home is in Hangzhou. He is also the 32nd generation grandson of Mao and Su, kings of wuyue.
In Hangzhou area, the Qian family is a family with considerable social prestige. It is said that they are the heirs of Qian Miao, King of Wu Yue, and Qian Junfu is the 32nd generation grandson of Qian Miao, King of wuyue. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been many politicians, writers and famous scholars from this family. Qian Junfu's father deals in silk in Hangzhou.
In other words, Qian Zhongshu and Qian Xuesen are contemporaries, and they are both the 33rd generation grandchildren of Wu Yueguo and Wu's great ancestors.