Since the 1990s, China's study of Fortress Besieged has shown a gratifying situation in the ascendant: First, the study of the theme and characters of the work has been deepened; Second, flexible use of various critical perspectives; Thirdly, it gives a reasonable explanation to the creative defects of Fortress Besieged. However, the study of Fortress Besieged, which sticks to a single critical system, also shows its crisis. Only with the help of formalism and structuralism, can we make a breakthrough.
Wen Rumin's "Three Meanings of Besieged City" published in 1989 can be regarded as an incisive summary of previous studies on besieged city. (Note: China Modern Literature Research SeriesNo. 1989No. 1) He pointed out in his article that the study of the theme of Fortress Besieged has always had three levels: one is the level of life description, the other is the level of cultural reflection, and the third is the level of philosophical thinking.
Song Yanping's Personality and Life in the Interchange of Chinese and Western Cultures —— Rereading Fortress Besieged and Notes on Fortress Besieged Studies (Note: Journal of Liaoning Normal University (Social Science Edition) No.2, 199 1), trying to explain the theme of Fortress Besieged from three aspects: life, culture and philosophy.
Starting with the aesthetic concept of "Tragedy Tragedy", Royston Tan sought the philosophical implication of the theme of Fortress Besieged. (Note: The deep meaning of the theme of Fortress Besieged, Journal of Guizhou University (Social Science Edition) 1994 No.3) He believes that although Qian Zhongshu denied Wang Guowei's assertion that A Dream of Red Mansions is a "tragic tragedy", he inherited the concept of "tragic tragedy" and gave it a sense centered on the theory of desire, making it potentially conscious.
The value of Zhang Qinghua's research lies in his combination of refining cultural implications and exploring cultural causes. His article "The Collapse of Enlightenment Myth and the Irony of Colonial Culture —— A New Discussion on the Theme and Cultural Strategy of Fortress Besieged" (Note: China Modern Literature Research Series No.4 1995) puts Fortress Besieged in the process of modern culture in China, so as to accurately and keenly understand Qian Zhongshu's new cultural strategy different from his predecessors, and provide the background and find the reasons for the emergence of this cultural strategy. Under the overall grasp of the discourse mode of modern literature, Zhang Qinghua saw that Qian Zhongshu chose binary criticism from the perspective of colonial culture out of rational reflection on the emotional color of the cultural operation of the previous generation of intellectuals.
Hu Heqing pointed out in his doctoral thesis on Qian Zhongshu (note: true spirit and old way-Qian Zhongshu's humanistic thought, written by Hu Heqing, Hebei Education Press, 1995 edition) that Qian Zhongshu's criticism of China's traditional outlook on fate was cold and thorough, which was not available to his predecessors.