Li Jinfa's early poems are full of strange, mysterious, decadent and lost emotional appeal, attacking the hypocrisy and meanness of western civilization. There are pictures in his poems, which are influenced by sculpture art. His poems are characterized by paying attention to the expression of feelings at that time, using the hints of artistic images, jumping ideas, difficult scenes and unreasonable psychological state. His later poems changed with the development of the times, from obscure to clear, from morbid to intense, showing sincere love for the people of the motherland.
Li Jinfa is the originator of modern symbolism poetry in China, and his influence has been extended to contemporary poetry in China. His third collection of poems, Slight Rain, Diners and Time, and Ode to Joy, brought a strange fresh wind to the China poetry circle at that time and caused waves in the new poetry circle.
When Xiao Yu was published in 1925, the advertisement about Xiao Yu in the 45th issue of Yu Si published on September 2 1 that year said: "Its theme, style and artistic conception are different from those currently popular, and it is a unique work in the field of poetry." Su, a female critic at that time, pointed out: "The poetry symbolized by modern China began from the beginning, and it cannot be said that he did not contribute to the new poetry world." [1] Li Jinfa later recalled: "A Su girl also wrote an article to analyze my poems, saying that the ins and outs of my thoughts were clearer than myself." Zhu Ziqing listed him as one of the founders of the three major poetry schools in the May 4th Movement in China's Poems of New Literature.