Abstract: WU Zhi-ren (Pou-zhong, 1631-1659), also called WU Qian-mu, was an intellectual who lived in Haiyan County during the later Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. In his short life, he devoted himself to practicing a new idea and a new life attitude, that is, “Confucian classics study as a way of life”. In Confucian tradition, which emphasizes practice, there are full of doctrines that guide life world. In spite of the variety of the relationship between Confucian classics study and life world, the existence of an organic relationship is definitely natural. However, under the impact of modern academic ideology, Confucian classics study is normally regarded as an objective study of classics. The ignore of the intimate relationship between Confucian classics and life world makes us fail to understand this important aspect of the intellectual history. Here is the historical significance of studying WU Qian-mu, a local intellectual whose vision and thoughts were relatively narrow: It can provide us an opportunity to examine a grass root intellectual’s activities in a region such as Haiyan when Yangming School was at low tide during the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty.

Key words: WU Qian-mu;Collected Posthumous Works of Mr. WU Zhi-ren;WU Fan-chang;secular honor, rites, Confucian classics;ZHANG Lv-xiang