Pu Songling
The story was positively received. As translator John Minford notes, "(the story) is one of the most widely read of all the "Strange Tales" ... and continues to be popular for its powerful theme and the sheer gruesomeness of its detail." Pu Songling is praised by literary critics for offering readers vivid characterisation and an emboldened stance against lust. Qing dynasty critic Dan Minglun () offers in his 1842 interlinear commentary of "Liaozhai", "(Wang) is clearly a man in the grip of a serious sexual delusion ... (Chen) should not bother bringing her worthless husband back from the dead." Translator Allan Barr writes that "Pu at times transforms (the characters in "Huapi") ... from dangerous succubi into sympathetic figures, who are stricken with guilt when they imperil their partners' lives." Taiwanese writer Yi-jia Wang () provides a psychoanalytical review of "The Painted Skin", describing Wang as relying on his wife to restore "the Deep Structure of male-dominated Chinese culture."