Abstract: Pierre Bourdieu' s social theory is often named as a Theory of Practice. However, no clarification has ever been made of the role of practice in Bourdieu. This paper traces the representative works which have established Bourdieu and draws the conclusion: Different from the analytically instrumental concepts of habitus, field and capital, practice is both ontological and epistemological in the idea of Bourdieu. Ontological practice, presented as space and time, automaticity, purposiveness, urgency, and etc., is related to the agents' social being. Epistemological practice refers to an epistemological reflection different from the traditional understanding of practice. This reflection mainly employs body knowledge, historical sense and symbol alchemy, and it naturally presents the ontology practice without losing its richness. By restoring the original color of Bourdieu's theory of practice, one will see his effort to overcome the subjectobject and structureaction binary oppositions. Besides, the realistic social significance and historical development of the corresponding disciplines' theory also get the highlight.

Key words: practice, practical understanding, Theory of Practice, ontology, epistemology