Throughout his life, Xie Jin refrained from making surrealist movies. He insisted on his responsibility to the motherland and his audiences, considering movies as an epitome of the times.

The second phase starts in the late 1970s. In 1980, the movie "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" marked a departure in Xie Jin's filmmaking approach. Reflections on events in the previous decade became Xie's top concern. Among his major works in the period are Horse Herder, Wreath Under the Towering Mountains, Furong Town, and Qiu Jin the Revolutionary. Furong Town won numerous awards both at home and abroad.