[en] The low-order harmonic generation of hydrogen molecular ion interacting with a linearly polarized laser field has been investigated theoretically by using a simple two-state model. The validity of the two-state model is carefully examined by comparing the harmonic spectra of hydrogen molecular ion obtained from this model with those from the three-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation. When combined with the Morlet transform of quantum time-frequency spectrum, the two-state model can be used to study the dynamical origin of the low-order harmonic generation of hydrogen molecular ion driven by low-frequency pulses. In addition, some interesting structures of the time profiles for low order harmonics are obtained. (paper)