Abstract: AIM　To study the subcritical water chromatographic discipline of compounds with medium and high polarity on the capillary and packed column. METHODS　A packed and capillary subcritical water chromatography-FID detection system was built up. Six alcohols were well separated on a C₁₈ column and the influence of temperature on chromatographic behavior of alcohols with different polarity was studied. The influence of temperature and pressure on chromatographic behavior of benzoic acid and gensenoside Rg1 on a SE-54 capillary column were also studied. RESULTS　Increasing temperature resulted in the decreasing polarity of mobile phase, shortened retention times of components separated, narrowed peak shape and improved tailing as well. CONCLUSION　Temperature programming could be used successfully to separate compounds with various polarity selectively. Thermostable capillary column could enlarge the range of temperature even more.