We construct an evaluation index system of farmers’ digital literacy level from four aspects: digital universal literacy, digital social literacy, digital creative literacy and digital security literacy. Then, we explored the theoretical framework which elaborate the effects of digital education on various digital life through digital literacy. Using the survey data collected from 654 households in Sichuan province and Chongqing city in rural China, we empirically tested the impacts of digital education on farmers’ participation in digital life represented by digital shopping, digital health care, digital life services and digital travel, and the heterogeneity of that effects for different groups, and discussed the mediation role of digital literacy. We found that digital education has significant positive effects on farmers’ digital shopping, digital health care, digital life services, digital travel and participation degree in digital life, and there is obvious heterogeneity across different age, education level, family occupation type and family income. We further confirmed that digital education positively promotes the accumulation of farmers’ digital literacy, and digital literacy plays an intermediary role in the relationship that digital education affects different areas of digital life, such as digital shopping, digital health care, digital life services and digital travel.