Kao P'an-lung (Gao Panlong) was one of the leaders of the Tung-lin Academy which possessed nation-wide celebrity in the late Ming. His thought and spirit were admired by many scholars during the transition of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties. However, most historical materials about him, compiled by his progeny and disciples, were biased to shaped him as a Ch'eng-Chu School follower and adhered merely to the practical learnings. Chapter One thus tries to reconstruct the outlines of his scholarship and relocate his position in Chinese intellectual history. Chapter Two deals with, according to the time sequence, several crucial stages of P'an-lung's intellectual growth, and the backgrounds of those conversions. The chapter especially emphasizes on the meditation and inner enlightenment, two tools through which he used to approach the Neo-Confucian truth. Chapter Three probes into the martyrdom occurred at the end of his life. P'an-lung, different from his peers who were tortured to death by the eunuchs' gang, committed suicide before the Imperial Guards apprehended him to prevent the emperor to be blamed that he killed his loyal minister. P'an-lung's death contained many religious elements which could hardly find in Ch'ing Confucians. In general, some followers of the Wang Yang-ming School degraded their trainings and morality, and, as a result, they were harshly criticized by Tung-ling scholars, among them P'an-lung was an eminent one. Many Ch’ing scholars, who ascribed the fall of the Ming dynasty to the futile learnings of Ming scholars, praised P'an-lung as a practical Confucian. But, unfortunately, they misunderstood his thought and scholarship, and underestimated the merits of those authentic Ming Confucians as well.