In mainland China, Augustine's Confessions translated by Mr. Zhou Shiliang (Commercial Press, 1963) is very popular. However, before Mr. Zhou's translation, during the late Qing and the Republic of China, there were five Chinese translations of Confessions. In this paper the author first examines the translation and publication of the five Chinese translations, their respective characteristics, and secondly examines the history of the translation of the word "Confession," the discussion of the precise meaning and translation of "confession" among some writers during the Republic of China. This article is the first systematically academic retrospection of the eastward transmission of Augustine's Confessions.