Adopting the method of ideas history and sociology of knowledge, this paper explores how a part of Chinese intellectuals realized and understood modern newspaper in the 19th century. Different from foreign missionary and merchant, the founders of Chinese modern newspapers, some Chinese intellectuals had been actively discovered, read, observed, described modern newspapers and formed their ideas of journalism. These Chinese intellectuals can be divided into two categories, early envoys of the Qing Dynasty and intellectuals in treatyport cities. Some early envoys directly observed western newspapers, and they found newspapers had functions to communicate internal and external, communicate upper and lower. They also realized that newspapers can represent public opinion and be an important part of parliamentary system, so newspaper was considered to be an essential of state prosperity. The intellectuals in treatyport cities took newspaper as plebeian’s principled criticism, which could help them to participate politics again, so newspaper was considered to be a skill of erudite and informed, and a way to rule a country. Although the conflict and strain emerged when integrating western new knowledge and ideas of modern newspaper into Chinese traditional knowledge and ideas, Chinese intellectuals remoulded the new knowledge and ideas of newspaper and formed their ideas of journalism under the frame of “Chinese learning for fundamental principles and Western learning for practical application”.