After her phase of expressing her inner sentiments and reminiscing about the fields of her hometown, Chien Chen could not help but reveal a certain sense of powerlessness when she turned to writing about city life with Rouge Basin. Her essays were short, with themes that weren't fully fleshed out.
簡媜完成內在抒情、田園懷想的主題之後，在寫作都市觀察《胭脂盆地》時，不禁顯露出無力感；篇幅短小、主題不夠周全，讓喜歡她的讀者一時心驚她已無力為繼。