By analyzing the deep meaning and extended development of Wang Gen's thought that "the truth is in the daily use of common people", its influences on handicraft in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and design in modern China were summarized, the duality of the traditional design thinking mode in China was explored to seek its contemporary value and end-result. Combining the writings of literati and achievement of handicraft in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the innovation of design thought at that time and the foresight of observing the renewal of creation were explored. From the perspective of the accumulation of creation culture, the conservative characteristics of "daily use of common people" were reflected and the contemporary value attribution of "conscience nature" was analyzed through representative design cases at present. "Daily use of common people" once promoted the unprecedented prosperity of creation craft in the late Ming Dynasty, but its inherent conservatism responded to the traditional mode of creation and management led to the stagnation of early industrialization in China. Its deep-seated concept "conscience nature" is instructive for contemporary design to find the integration of creation and life, and the coexistence of machinery and craft.