After 1949, Yan Qingxiang retired at home due to illness and had a lot of contacts with famous artists. His home became a place for old friends to get together. Yan Qingxiang was enthusiastic about the democratic revolution when he was young. He once worshipped Sun Yat-sen as a teacher, and Sun Yat-sen wrote about "fraternity" to him. Being strict with public interests and loyalty, and abiding by credit, he has generously donated millions of yuan to cultural and sports undertakings and helped the poor. After sixty-five, he was addicted to learning. In his later years, he wrote Confucius and Modern Thought and China Regular Script Dictionary. After retirement, Yan Qingxiang was keen on charity and traveled between the two sides of the strait for the peaceful reunification of the motherland. He died of illness in 1988 at the age of 89. After liberation, he donated money to education, children's, teenagers' and old-age foundations in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai, totaling more than 5, yuan. In 198, Yan donated precious cultural relics such as Ode to the Virtue of Wine, Zhu Da's running script in Qing Dynasty, ancient Korean green glazed white flower jar and Ming and Qing collections to Shanghai Museum. In 1981, the classical garden "Crane Garden" purchased in Suzhou in the early years was donated to the country.

China Regular Script Dictionary, edited by Yan in his later years, was published by Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House in October 1985 after six years, and won the first prize of excellent books in Jiangsu Province. His monograph Confucius and Modern Politics was published in Taiwan Province in 198 and 1985. In 1978 and 1983, Yan was elected as a member of the CPPCC twice. In 198, he served as a consultant to the Civil Construction and Federation of Industry and Commerce. In 1984, he was appointed honorary president of Nanjing Children's Welfare Foundation and director of Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation in 1986.