 It provoked much debate in the Shanghai news media on the controversy over the representation and status of women in popular culture and shed a light on the increasing feminist problems of modernity.Much discussion surrounded the similarities between Ai Xia, Ruan, and her character Wei Ming, all sources of scrutiny in 'the woman question' of urban China in the 1930s.Some criticised the representation of new woman in the film as not focusing on family duties and pressured the idea of an independent new woman, conveying the traditional Chinese ideals which needed reformation.