As China continues to advance the construction of a high-quality preschool education system, it moves toward the goal of achieving both quality and balance, which has spurred ongoing research in the field. A systematic review of relevant literature reveals that the development of preschool education research has progressed through three key stages: focusing initially on “scale development,” then shifting to an emphasis on “balanced development,” and more recently, concentrating on the integration of “quality and balance.” Research in each stage has yielded significant insights. However, the exploration of this topic has yet to form a comprehensive, diversified, and distinctive research framework. Key limitations include identical research characteristics, insufficient interdisciplinary studies, limited empirical research, and an absence of a standardized indicator system. Future research should move beyond repetitive investigations at a single level to create more innovative, multi-faceted, and feasible strategic systems. This should involve focusing on county-level management, shifting from static assessments to dynamic development; emphasizing policy optimization, shifting from a single-dimensional balance to a multi-perspective quality balance; attaching importance to practical outcome, shifting from a broad examination of balance to an in-depth exploration of its quality; prioritizing pathway innovations, shifting from divergent attention to focused high-quality balanced exploration.