The theory that Gong Cheng led the British army to burn the Old Summer Palace was caused by the long poem about the Old Summer Palace written by Wang Kaiyun (also known as Renqiu and Xiangqi). The second self-note of his poem includes: "The barbarians came to the palace from the capital,...the nobles and the poor advocated leading the people, pretending to be the barbarians, and then set fire to them first. The barbarians returned and looted." "The nobles and the poor took the initiative to lead the people. "Who the "*people" refers to specifically is not stated clearly. Later, Liu Chengyu wrote the article "Wang Xiangqi's Biography of the Two Han Dynasties" based on Wang Kaiyun's residual manuscript "There are Han Dynasty writings about the sale of heroes and old men", which was recorded in Liu's "Miscellaneous Memories of Shizaitang". The article says: "Gong Xiaogong, courtesy name Cheng, Hao Guan, Renhe and Gong Zizhen's son, when the British attacked Tianjin and Guangzhou, Wei Tuoma respected him as the mastermind and used his strategies." Gong Cheng was a traitor of the Han Dynasty and led the British army to burn. This is where the saying of the Old Summer Palace comes from.

Later, this matter was found in the postscript of the book "Historical Materials on Tongzhi's Reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace" written by Liu Shuwen, a native of Daheshan: "In the beginning, Gong Xiaogong, a Japanese man, traveled on the sea and used sniping and deception to get through to the barbarians. There are many Ding Yi from three generations in the Yuanmingyuan. Gong Fang was fond of gold and stone carvings. When the Geng Shen capital changed, he took advantage of the rebellion and led them into the garden, setting fire to and plundering them."

Later, there was Chen Wenbo's " "A Study on the Destruction of the Old Summer Palace" identified the "noble poor man" as Gong Cheng. "The British army invaded the north, and Gong was the guide, saying that the essence of the Qing Dynasty is in the Old Summer Palace." (See Cai Shenzhi's "Memories of the Old Summer Palace") In 1916, Xu Ke said in his book "Qing Barnyard Notes": "The essence of the Qing Dynasty is in the Old Summer Palace." During the battle, the British sent troops to the capital to burn the Old Summer Palace, and Gong Shi went with him. He rode in first and took the gold and stone heavy weapons back. The theory that Gong Cheng led the British army to burn the Old Summer Palace began to fall like dandelion seeds in every corner of China. Unofficial histories and novels such as "The Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty" and Zeng Pu's "Niehaihua" also believed that Gong Cheng led the British army. Burnt the Old Summer Palace.