胡适在他的英文著作《中国的文艺复兴》里 ,引用中国思想家王韬的话说 :“道不能即通 ,则先假器以通之……”。王韬这种思路与他当时以及以后中国因了西风东渐而维新图强的多派学说均不相同。本文在简要介绍王韬生平的基础上 ,论述其在宗教、科技、贸易书籍翻译方面的重要贡献。指出他在上海的翻译工作大致分为两期 :前期以译圣经为主 ,后期以译西方科技书为主。王韬所译西书的内容逐渐对他产生思想影响 ,形成他独树一帜的思想 :以器来通“道”,藉“器”而见“道”,因中西之道相通而实现大同世界的理想 In his English book The Renaissance in China, Hu Shih quotes the Chinese thinker Wang Tao as saying: “If the Tao can not be attained, then the first resort is to pass through ...”. Wang Tao’s thinking is different from that of the multi-faction doctrine that at that time and later China was rejuvenated due to the westerly eastward. Based on a brief introduction of Wang Tao’s life, this article discusses its important contribution in the translation of religion, science and technology and trade books. It points out that his translation work in Shanghai can be roughly divided into two periods: the early translation of the Bible, the later translation of Western science and technology books. The contents of the Western Book translated by Wang Tao gradually exert his ideological influence on him and form his unique thinking: “Tao” by means of “apparatus” and “Tao” by “apparatus”, and realized the ideal of the world of Datong because of the interlink of Chinese and Western traditions