To understand the scholastic diversion between the Ming and Qing dynasty, Gu Yanwu's “Jingxue Ji Lixue” served as an important indictor. In the essay, we first pointed out three kinds of explanations of his thoughts: Anti-Neo-Confucianism, inner logic, and practicalism. Next, we discussed about Gu Yanwu's views on the study of the classics and the Neo Confucianism. He advocated studying the classics to manage the world in an orderly manner and placed emphasis on discovering the authors' real intention of these classics. He criticized Neo-Confucians for their vague ideologies and when discussing the same issues, he usually gave practical definitions to replace the abstract ones. Gu Yanwu's thoughts were influenced by Zhu Xi. However, because he had a different purpose, transformed Zhu Xi's theory. As a result, they proceeded in opposite directions. Although Gu Yanwu was not the first to suggest “Jingxue Ji Lixue”, he devoted himself to the study of classics, and combined the study of classics with practicalism. His efforts gradually changed the scholastic atmosphere and greatly influenced the study of the classics in the Qing dynasty.