The author's own English translation appeared in the anthology Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas: 1919–1949 (1981) published by Columbia University Press.

Fu Lei was an enthusiastic critic of the story,[1] while C. T. Hsia considered it "the greatest novelette in the history of Chinese literature".

Ch'i-ch'iao the main protagonist is the daughter of a sesame oil shopkeeper, she is forced to marry family Chiang for wealth.

Then, in such an environment, Ch'i-ch'iao soul is oppressed by the desire of wealth, and her personality is gradually more distorted, which will lead to a tragic end.

She turns her own bitterness into a heavy golden cangue and cleaves people to her, which eventually leads them to the abyss of hell and misfortune.

"[9] In the old times Chinese women's small feet came to symbolize many female-related qualities, including weakness, brokenness, passivity, delicacy, and sensuality.

To young people the moon of thirty years ago should be a reddish-yellow wet stain the size of a copper coin, like a teardrop on letter paper by To-yün Hsüan, worn and blurred.

White clouds steaming up underneath and a faint halo over the street lamp showing among the top branches of a tree".

[17] From Ch’ang-an's point of view, the moon is cold and vague, symbolizing her helplessness and frustration; in addition it also relates to her later life that is also grey and without light.

[20] At this time, the description of the moon is ferocious, as if with hate, which echoes Ts’ao Ch’i-ch’iao's abnormal psychology.

The usage of the moon image in "The Golden Cangue" makes the connotation profound and brings readers endless thinking and imagination.

[25] The script from Eileen Chang's novella, "The Golden Cangue" was adapted for the Beijing Opera by Wang An-chi and Zhao Xue-jun.

[27] He made an incisive artistic analysis of "The Golden Cangue" from multiple dimensions, such as structure, rhythm, color, psychology, style and creation technique.

However, this author argues against it when explaining that within the Golden Cangue, Eileen Chang elaborates on social critique of eugenic practices linked to reproduction.

Leng describes the novel as a description of a fictional world where Chinese modernity has a deep psychological impact on women.