While translation is basically born out of need when two languages communicate, it is more than a mere linguistic activity. It is a meeting of, or more specifically, a collision of two peoples, two cultures, two politics, etc. Hence, even for translation of literature, as Andre Lefevere puts it, a productive study can, for the most part, be only socio-historical in nature. Translation is very often received as an act of violence, as it would constitute a threat to existing literature in the reception culture, and hence a threat to those who had benefited or were then benefiting from their control of the existing literature. But on the other hand, translation, in some cases, is purposefully turned into "an act of violence" by the translators to serve some special, usually political purposes. It was made into an innovative, if not a subversive, force to overthrow the long established literary "norm," in order to bring in new elements that might fit into their agenda and contribute to its advancement. The present paper attempts to analyze the translation of foreign fiction in China During the late Qing and early Republican Period, from the above two points of views: that it was received as "an act of violence" and that it was manipulated as "an act of violence." In both cases, we will, as translation worked as an intruding external force upon a specific political, social, literary and ideological context, put the emphasis on the translations and the receptor party, rather than on the originals and the source. The following questions will be dealt with. First, who were the translators? Who were the readers? Second, what was chosen for translation and why? Third, what were the major strategies adopted in translation, and, again, why? Fourth, what impact did these translations make on society? Fifth, how were these Translations received? In answering these questions, I will not be making analyses of a textual nature, or giving a close reading, of a few works. I hope to give a broad and general picture of the translation of western literary works in the late Qing and early Republican period. This overview, to my knowledge, has never been provided in any study of the problem.@@@