Yuan Qiongqiong has been a prolific author since the 1970s, and is highly acclaimed for her short stories and essays. She has also published poetry under the name Zhu Ling, and has written a novel, numerous scripts, lyrics, and criticisms, as well as having been a radio show host. Yuan's writings have often been labeled as part of "boudoir literature" [gui xiu wen xue], for her focus on quotidian domestic middle-class life and detailed observations of romance and love affairs. She was also a student of the influential Chinese thinker and author Hu Lancheng, who compared her writings to Eileen Chang's. Her works include Hong Chen Xin Shi [Private Thoughts in the Red Dust, 1981], Zi Ji De Tian Kong [A Sky of One's Own, 1981], Chun Shui Chuan [Spring Water Boat, 1985], Yuan Qiongqiong Ji Duan Pian [Short-Short Stories by Yuan Qiongqiong, 1988], Jin Shen Yuan [This Love, This Life, 1988], Kong Bu Shi Dai [Times of Terror], and Qing Shu [Love Letters series, 2006-7].