Abstract: As a theoretical concept developed in the Chinese domestic context in recent years, the concept of " cultural capital of underclass" provides an alternative approach for the research on cultural reproduction of rural students. The emergence of cultural capital of underclass has its unique theoretical, disciplinary, historical and cultural logics. In terms of theoretical logic, it is the localization of the theory of cultural capital; from the perspective of pedagogy and sociology, it is the response to " how can humble families nurture respected children"; from a historical perspective, it is an inevitable product of research in the era of "urban and rural education"; from the perspective of cultural logic, it is the extension of the Taoist thought of "benefiting from the loss of things". From the academic, practical and institutional dimensions, the era value of the concept of " cultural capital of underclass" is that it goes beyond the Western cultural reproduction logic which focuses on structural factors, provides a new horizon for relevant research, broadens the possibility of stratum mobility of rural children, and provides new ideas for the transformation of policies from economic compensations to cultural compensations. In the future, it is necessary to expand the theoretical basis of the cultural capital of underclass, to explore the time-domain boundary of the cultural capital of underclass, and to deepen the internal innovation of relevant policies and systems, so as to promote the construction and stability of the theoretical edifice of the cultural capital of underclass.