In the field of international Chinese language education, scholars have been exploring effective methods for teaching Chinese as a second language that better align with the characteristics of the Chinese language and the needs of overseas students. In recent years, Zhong Yinghua and others have proposed the “expression-driven” theory, which regards the expression of ideas and thoughts as the core function of language, the underlying logic of language genesis and development, and the fundamental law followed in language teaching. They aim to construct an advanced teaching system of “teaching for expression, learning for expression, and evaluating for expression”. This proposition and its corresponding practices have attracted some attention, but related discussions have not been fully developed. From the perspective of the evolution of linguistics, this theory is analyzed theoretically. It is found that although it is not entirely consistent with the concepts and methods of formalist linguistics, it has a high degree of consistency with the traditional linguistic exploration of the mechanism of language genesis and is roughly in line with the basic theoretical tendencies of systemic functional linguistics. It is also consistent with the facts and experiences of language genesis and language teaching. Based on the teaching research results published in recent years, this theory has demonstrated certain effectiveness and wide adaptability in recent exploration practices. Therefore, it has relatively solid factual, experiential, and scientific basis, as well as a deep exploration and practice foundation and broad prospects for promotion in international Chinese language education. The proposal and practice of this theory may lead to the exploration of a Chinese-style teaching system and educational plan for teaching Chinese as a second language.