In terms of the study of its original version, research largely focuses on such aspects as feminism, the analysis of the heroin Wang Qiyao, Shanghai local culture and comparison between Wang Anyi and Zhang Ailing.

Pak Natalia from Heilongjiang University studied how men, women themselves and era affect women’s life in her graduation thesis. Also, Liang Yan from Xinjiang Normal University made an analysis of the relationship between feminism and Wang Anyi, trying to discuss feminist thoughts in Wang’s works.

Li Han from Shanxi University analyzed the life of Wang Qiyao to reveal the civilian life in Shanghai in her thesis for master’s degree titled The Alley Life of Wang Qiyao.

Ni Jian from Xinjiang Normal University made a detailed analysis of longtang—the typical architecture in Shanghai to demonstrate the local culture of Shanghai in her graduation thesis Shanghai Alleyway Culture Study of Wang Anyi’s Works.

Zhang Bo (2009), associate professor of Jilin HuaQiao University of Foreign Languages compared Zhang Ailing with Wang Anyi by studying their works in her thesis The Pursuit of Stability and Spirit Meditation in the City—A Comparative Analysis “Love in a Fallen City” by Zhang Ailing and “Song of Unending Sorrow” by Wang Anyi. In this thesis she pointed out that Wang exhibited the spirit of non-urban thought in the city of Shanghai while Zhang described the pursuit of a decent living.

In terms of study of the English version, Professor Wu Yun from Shanghai International Study University is the representative. In 2012, he published a paper titled Studies on Translation Ethics of Chinese Contemporary Literature: a Case Study of The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai. In this paper, he pointed out that a successful translation mainly relied on the respect for “the other”. Later, another paper titled Coexistence of Defamiliarization and Readability: A Probe into The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai was published. This paper elaborates the translation from the identities of the translators. His research did not stop. The third paper titled Shanghai Writing in the West — Translation and Reception of The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai appeared.

One year later, Hao Li published her paper which was titled On Publication and Communication of English translation of Wang Anyi’s Works to analyze the publication and communication of the English version.

Fu Yu, a graduate student from Fudan University studied the English version to complete her graduation thesis, in which she studied the Shanghai Regional Culture reflected in the English version. Qu Huiyu from Beijing Foreign Studies University studied the English version from the perspective of feminism in her graduation thesis Women, Time and Space: A Feminist Analysis into the English Translation of Wang Anyi’s Chang Hen Ge. Zeng Ying from Southwest University of Nationalities studied the image of Wang Qiyao in her graduation thesis On the Image of Wang Qiyao in the English Version of the Song of Everlasting Sorrow.

In terms of studying the translation of Wang Anyi’s Chang Hen Ge, Wang Kun from Beijing Foreign Studies University made a detailed analysis in his graduation thesis An Analysis of the English Version of The Song of Everlasting Sorrow Through Hermeneutic Theory. Liu Lijuan from Guangdong University of Finance & Economics also studied the translation in her thesis On the Variation of The Song of Everlasting Sorrow from the Perspective of Rewriting Theory. She worked to unveil the reasons behind the variation of the target text, from the aspects of adoption of translation methods and strategies as well as text selection.

Internationally, sinologists and literary critics such as David Dee-wei Wang and Zhang Xudong made introductions and reviews about this book. Both The New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly praised this book for its narration. J. B. Rollins and Baochai Chiang commented that Wang Anyi’s description of things and mental state is as good as Zola and Edith Wharton.