Widely considered to be one of her best works, this story follows the life and romantic encounters of a woman in a changing Shanghai, spanning roughly four decades of the twentieth century.

The novel has also been translated into Vietnamese by Sơn Lê (as Trường hận ca), into Korean by Yu Byeong-rye (as 장한가), into French by Yvonne André and Stéphane Lévêque (as Le chant des regrets éternels), into Spanish by Carlos Ossés Torrón (as La canción de la pena eterna), into Italian by Maria Rita Masci (as La canzone dell'eterno rimpianto), into Russian by Maria V. Semenyuk (as Песнь о бесконечной тоске) and into Serbian by Ivana Elezović (as Pesma o večnoj seti).

[citation needed] The novel has the same name as the poem written by one of the most famous poets in the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi, about the romance and tragic death of the beautiful imperial consort Yang Yuhuan.

In the end she is murdered by the scam artist “Long Legs” because of his desire to steal her hidden stash of gold bars.

[citation needed] As early as 2003, the novel was also adapted for stage by Zhao Yaomin (who later co-wrote the teleplay for To Live to Love).