Abstract: The passionist theory of Gong Zizheng mainly included two aspects: the emotion-first concept and the child’s innocence concept. Although deriving from the ideological tradition of Li Zhi, the three Yuans of Gong’an and Yuan Mei, passionism had new contemporary connotation: advocating personal liberation, welcoming enlightenment, guiding the society and helping the people. In these ideas lay the new changes to passionism. To his poetic creation Gong Zizheng applied passionist ideas, expressing his worries for the troubled country and the people in need, thus expanding his emotions in both width and depth. Moreover Gong Zizheng voiced his rebelling spirit for personal liberation in his works. The passionist ideas of Gong Zizheng and their application to his poetry had great influence on Liang Qichao, Huang Zunxian, Liu Yazi and Lu Xun and provided significant reference for healthy development of passionist literature.

Key words: Gong Zizheng, passionism, poetic creation