In recent years, the debate about whether mutual aid for the aged can be promoted has not stopped. In order to systematically explain the phenomenon of mutual assistance for the aged, this paper puts forward from the perspective of cultural capital theory that the foundation of mutual aid for the aged is the occurrence, development and function of specific cultural capital. As a kind of cultural capital, “filial piety” and “respect for the elderly” form the necessary conditions of mutual aid elderly care from many aspects. The physical cultural capital forms the restraint mechanism of “mutual aid is obligation”; The objectified cultural capital forms the cooperation mechanism of “shared field”; The institutionalized cultural capital forms the incentive mechanism of “external recognition”. By reviewing the function of “filial piety culture” in Chinese history, This paper explains the process of the rise and fall of mutual aid for the aged. The cultivation and accumulation of different cultural capital provides the possibility for a variety of mutual aid elderly care modes in urban and rural areas, and will also enrich the future old-age support mode.