Abstract: From the late Qing dynasty to the May 4th Movement is viewed as the transition period of Chinese translation thoughts.Historical texts on translation thoughts published during the period were short of comprehensive investigation with a modern perspective.Based on a survey of the translation thoughts during the late Qing dynasty and a critical reading of "On Translation of Books" written by Liang Qichao, the paper reveals that this document contains Liang's systematical understanding of state-oriented translation, embedding the thought of State Translation Program (STP).His idea that "to translate books matters the most for building China into a strong country", which associates "state security" with translation, was the first call for identifying the crucial function of STP.He argued that "as for the subject of translating western books nowadays, three main fields must be attached importance to", i.e.realization of translation norms and terminology standardization in STP, training of translators for implementing STP and collaboration of national translation institutions.In view of a systematic revelation of Liang Qichao's idea of "to translate for building China into a strong country", the article "On Translation of Books" should be given a place in the development history of Chinese translation thoughts.