Abstract: Taking Shanghai Ploytechnic Institution and Reading Room as an example and its testpapers the basic historical source material, to explain the making a popular intellectual community among students of Gezhi academy as well as their understanding of the structure of Western knowledge, the relationship between Chinese and Western learning and methods for introducing Western learning.This paper elucidates Chinese intellectuals’conception of Western learning from the viewpoint of common people.Although the views of students from Shanghai Ploytechnic Institution and Reading Room did not decide national policy, like an important actor on the historical stage, the students’thoughts still had a powerful influence and served as an indication of potential popular thought.