Printing Office. In 1814 he went to Hui-chou, Anhwei, to visit his father and while there helped to collect materials for the bureau which was compiling the prefectural gazetteer. Two years later he accompanied his father to Sungkiang. In 1818 he was in Hangchow where he passed the provincial examination for the chü-jên degree. At this time he became interested in the study of the Kung-yang commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals (see under Chuang Ts'un-yü), and in 1819 he studied this and related commentaries under Liu Fêng-lu [q. v.]. The Kung-yang school of thought appealed strongly to Kung Tzŭ-chên because it encouraged men to be politically-minded and advocated reforms in government. Prior to this time Kung had written a number of short articles expounding his political views and the necessity of reform, for he lived in a period when far-sighted men like Pao Shih-ch'ên [q. v.] and he himself sensed the steady decline of the empire and the dangers that were looming ahead.
Anxious though he was to serve the dynasty, Kung Tzŭ-chên met with disappointments throughout his life. After failing twice in the metropolitan examinations, he purchased the rank of a secretary of the Grand Secretariat (1820) and in the same year published two long articles: one enumerating the advantages of making Turkestan into a province, the other a plea for a law forbidding foreigners to trade at Canton. Both these suggestions were ignored at the time, but the former was put into effect in 1884, after Tso Tsung-t'ang [q. v.] had reconquered Turkestan. The second article is no longer extant, but from the title, 東南罷番舶議 Tung-nan pa Fan-po i ("Bar Foreign Ships from our Southeastern Coasts"), we can surmise that Kung foresaw—some twenty years before the events—the coming disastrous conflict with foreigners. About the same time he attempted a comprehensive survey of Mongolia and the Mongols—a work never completed, but several chapters of which are included in his collected writings.
Owing to the death of his mother Kung Tzŭ-chên returned to Hangchow in 1823 to observe the period of mourning. About three years later he resumed his post in Peking. In 1827 he changed his name to Kung I-chien 龔易簡 (T. 伯定), but soon discarded it for the old one. Though he became a chin-shih in 1829, he was debarred from entering the Hanlin Academy owing to his poor handwriting. He qualified as a magistrate, but apparently preferred to remain a secretary in the Grand Secretariat. In 1830 he, together with Lin Tsê-hsü and Wei Yüan [qq. v.], organized a poetry club. All three had a common interest in political affairs, and Kung and Wei shared in particular a love for geography and history.
Bitter against a system that could judge men's capabilities by the accidents of handwriting, Kung Tzŭ-chên produced a work on calligraphy which he entitled, 干祿新書 Kan-lu hsin-shu, "A New Guidebook for Seekers after Government Emoluments." In many articles he attacked the authorities, openly or covertly, for their lack of statesmanship and self-respect. Naturally he became known as unruly and was blacklisted by high officials. About this time he changed his name to Kung Kung-tso 龔鞏祚. In 1836 he was appointed a secretary in the Imperial Clan Court, and a year later was transferred to the Board of Ceremonies. Late in 1838, when Lin Tse-hsü was sent to Canton as Imperial Commissioner in charge of foreign affairs, Kung wrote him about the unfavorable foreign trade which had caused a vast export of silver and a corresponding rise in commodity prices in relation to copper cash. He maintained that imported foreign goods such as woolen materials affected cotton products in China, and that the clocks and the glassware of the West were unnecessary luxuries. Hence he advised Lin to restrain foreign trade and to strengthen China's defenses by the manufacture of firearms. He proffered Lin his assistance, but the latter declined. Barred in every direction from being useful to his country, Kung suddenly left Peking in 1839. After purchasing a house in Hangchow he returned north to escort his family, but instead of entering Peking he is reported to have waited for the family about a day's journey from the capital. It is thought that in some way he had antagonized the powerful Grand Secretary, Mu-chang-a [q. v.], and that this accounts for his sudden departure and his reluctance to enter the city. However that may be, he spent the next two years in or near Hangchow and died in 1841 while traveling through Tan-yang, Kiangsu.
The novel Nieh-hai hua, written in 1907 (see under Hung Chün), links the names of Kung Tzŭ-chên and the poetess, Ku-t'ai-ch'ing (see under I-hui). There were in the lives of the two personages some coincidences on which to build what were doubtless unfounded tales of intimacy, Both lived in Peking at the same time, and both were gifted poets. In one of his poems Kung Tzŭ-chên refers to a noble lady who lived near
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