Abstract: The orthodox reading dominated by Confucian classics is the mainstream of ancient Chinese reading. But with the development of the society and the progress of science technology and culture, reading behavior extended down from the “official” to “people”. Not only the number of reading people increased greatly, but also some changes have taken place in reading purpose and content. Reading differentiated into many tributaries from the mainstream of Confucian orthodoxy reading, constituting another important characteristic in the evolution of the ancient Chinese people reading the differentiation of reading purposes and the multi-variant of reading contents. The study for ancient people reading condition has the certain enlightenment for today’s society.

Key words: Reading behavior extended down