This term refers to a person’s innate nature, that is, the pure and true mind of a child not influenced by subsequent enculturation. “Childlike heart” is a concept of literary creation advanced by the late Ming thinker Li Zhi (1527-1602) to counter what he considered the conceited writing style of the Neo-Confucian School of Principle and the dogmatic imitation of the ancients by the Classicist School of Literary Creation. Li Zhi’s “childlike heart” claims that all good writing comes from an untarnished heart. Only by writing with a childlike heart, natural and innate, can one break away from the shackles imposed by the Confucian principle that “emotions coming from the heart should be constrained by rites,” thus creating first-rate work by any standard. The proposition of “childlike heart” relates both to thoughts on individual emancipation in the late Ming Dynasty, and the influence of Wang Yangming’s philosophy of the mind. In literary creation, this “childlike heart” is expressed as a love for natural and pure beauty, reflecting people’s desire to shatter the restraints imposed by rites, as well as their will to pursue freedom and liberty. As such, it helped shape literary creation in the late Ming Dynasty, and has a significant impact on the formation of modern literary trends.

The so-called childlike heart is the innate heart at birth that is sincere and free from any hypocrisy. If a person loses his childlike heart, he loses his true heart. If he loses his true heart, he loses the qualification to become a genuine human. (Li Zhi: On Childlike Heart)

When the childlike heart is overshadowed, one will not speak honestly when one talks, will not act soundly when one handles political affairs, and will not express well when one engages in literary creation. If a person does not have inner beauty, and lacks a noble personality which is deep-rooted in virtues, then it is impossible to expect him to say even one sentence that is morally appropriate. Why is it so? It is because his childlike heart has been overshadowed by what he sees and hears after birth, which has taken hold of his heart and soul. (Li Zhi: On Childlike Heart)