This paper takes the perpetual inventory method as the basic framework of measuring human capital．Taking the human capital appreciation brought by the cost of time and energy invested in“learning from doing”into the estimation range，an extended estimation model is constructed，and the Mincer equation is introduced to estimate the appreciation of human capital．The depreciation rate of human capital is re-calculated according to the existing research and considering the difference of various types of human capital depreciation methods and life periods．Based on this，the human capital situation of China from 1978 to 2018 is estimated in detail.The results show that although education investment，opportunity cost and health care expenditure are still the core parts of human capital formation，human capital appreciation brought by “learning from doing”is an indispensable part of human investment but its share is merely 0. 6%．The investment in education，opportunity cost and health care is still the core part of human captital formation．At the same time，this paper also finds that the rate of human capital appreciation would be declining and the share of training investment for in-service workers and farmers is relatively low．
