Abstract: Following the A sociation of Zhejiang Students in Japan establishment of an investigation department in 1902, there was a gradual trend toward the use of social surveys in the late Qing.Influenced by Japan, late Qing social surveys were closely related to statistics.The content of social surveys involved a variety of aspects of social life, the subjects and purposes were diverse, and the results were objective.A ll this indicated that a degree of modernity existed in social investigation at the end of Qing Dynasty and modern social survey can trace its origins to this period.