The invention discloses a method for preparing lightweight porous ceramsite. Red stoneware mineral aggregate is used as a main raw material, a fixed amount of pore forming agent and fluxing agent is added, and the lightweight porous ceramsite is prepared by crushing, sieving, burdening, mixing, forming, rotting, drying, preheating and high temperature sintering. The lightweight porous ceramsite comprises the following materials in parts by weight: 78-86 parts of red stoneware mineral aggregate, 12-16 parts of pore forming agent and 2-6 parts of fluxing agent, wherein there are 20 parts of 80-300-mesh red stoneware mineral aggregate, 25 parts of 20-80-mesh red stoneware mineral aggregate and 55 parts of 5-20 mesh red stoneware mineral aggregate. The ceramsite prepared by the method disclosed by the invention has the advantages of lower apparent density, higher porosity, higher strength, higher adsorbability, simple preparation process and the like, and can be used as living water purification filtering material, a filtering material of biological aerated filters, an aquaculture water purification filtering material, building material filler, etc.