《林蘭香》以濃厚的滄桑氣氛在清代白話長篇世情小說中獨樹一格，其強烈的女性格調也留與研究者很大的詮釋空間。本文首先審視《林蘭香》在小說史上的位置，主張擱置視其為《金瓶梅》與《紅樓夢》之間鍊環的說法，且在細部處理文本後，重新考慮其作為十九世紀世情小說的可能性。其次，筆者將《林蘭香》放在夢憶文學的傳統中考察，分析小說如何利用歷史知識與編年結構，以感官物質的堆積與典雅情韻的曼吟構築繁華樂園，又如何以百年與一瞬的矛盾營造感傷追憶。最後，本文以晚清一部與《林蘭香》有承繼關係的小說《蘭花夢》作為陪襯與對照，這兩部小說都處理了錯置的女英雄、反英雄的男性，以及才女嫉恨等主題，這些雷同促使吾人重探清代世情小說發展後期的若干特質。在結論中，筆者指出《林蘭香》的個案實牽涉世情小說、炫學小說、女性彈詞小說、奇情小說等等範圍，提醒研究者更加注意十九世紀中國小說的交融現象。

As a full-length vernacular novel, Lin Lan Xiang singles itself out by its strongly sentimental and reminiscent ambiance. With its inherently feminine style, the work has also invited theory-oriented readings. In this article, I first attempt to resituate the work in the historical context of late-imperial Chinese vernacular novels. I suggest that we suspend the dominant theory that takes Lin Lan Xiang to be the link between Jin Ping Mei and Honglou meng, and, after a detailed reading of the text, consider the possibility of its being a nineteenth-century work. Secondly, I analyze the novel in the context of memoir literature. I examine how the author structures the novel chronologically while making wide use of textual and historical knowledge, constructs a dreamland by amassing objects as well as sentiments, and insinuates a nostalgic atmosphere by accentuating the paradox between the illusion of eternalness and the realization of the flux of time. Lastly, I bring into discussion the Lanhua meng, a late Qing novel, to foreground the characteristics of Lin Lan Xiang. Both novels deal with displaced heroines and male jealousy. The similarities encourage us to explore the development of Chinese novels in the nineteenth century. In conclusion, by pointing to the convergence of different modes in the case of Lin Lan Xiang, including novels of everyday life, novels of encyclopedic knowledge, novels in verse by women and novels of fantasy, I propose to explore further the fusion of modes in the tradition of nineteenth-century novels.