Zeng Pu is a prominent writer in the history of Chinese modern literature. His life of letters went through a genre in transition around the time from late Qing Dynasty to early Republic of China. Beginning his creation and research with Chinese classical literature，and then casting his eyes to Western learning，Zeng was determined to renew the old and decayed Chinese literary look by pouring Western source into it. In the literary scene，Zeng took an active part as a writer，translator，and theorist，and left us a precious literary wealth. This paper makes a systematic study of Zeng Pu on the following aspects:

·a brief account of the author’s life

·the present researching condition of his works

·the development of his literary ideology

·the artistic merit of his translated works

·the artistic characteristics of his two novels

The research aims at making a thorough inquiry of Zeng’s works，and seeking a more appropriate evaluation of his contribution to Chinese modern literature.

With “Art for life’s sake”as the core，Zeng’s literary ideology emphasized at “The true，the good，and the beautiful”. Zeng used western literature for reference in the hope of remaking the existing Chinese literature. This change，as he pointed out，was based on the respect of national characteristics. The remaking procedure was not only keeping the valuable features of our own linguistics，but also absorbing the new positive varieties of the western literary source，so that our nation’s literature can be improved to a better ground.

Zeng Pu was among the first writers to bring China a systematic introduction of French literature. In the early operating days of the publication of some works，Zeng had already made achievements in translating French works. Then in the initial period of these works，he formed his ideology of translation. Under its guidance，his latter translated works appeared to be more comprehensive as a whole system. Through the research and translation of French works，Zeng largely absorbed its literary elements，especially the Romanticism.

Niehai Hua（ A flower in a sea of sin），universally known as his most representative work，revealed the thirty years’ historical evolution from late Qing Dynasty to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895，and portrayed the intellectuals’ mentality at the turn by taking how the distinguished scholar Jin Wenqing broadened his horizon of the world from the isolation to Western learning as an instance. The novel was expecting to unearth the roots of the cultural suppression as well as the humanity. With the Romanism as an essential factor，the novel successfully enlightened a new way of narration.

In Zeng’s later stage works，Lu Nanzi was an outstanding one，yet left uncompleted. It was an autobiographical novel dealing with the author’s childhood and youth. The novel gave a minute description of joys and sorrows，partings and reunions，and overwhelmingly released his hatred to the old morals and patriarchalism. Carefully reading，we can deduce the development of Zeng’s outlook of life，and the rooted influence of the traditional culture.

In this research paper，Zeng Pu’s contribution to Chinese modern literature is concluded as followed:

·leaving systematic translation and introduction of French literature

·forming his own romantic style by absorbing the positive elements of French literature

·promoting new-vernacular literature and carrying Chinese literature to a new stage

The whole way of Zeng Pu’s literary life strongly confirmed his title as “A great bridge over the superseding era”.

編輯/希卡魯