The late 19th century saw the first and sporadic translation and introduction of American poetry to China, but the May Fourth Movement period marked a significant increase in its quantity. This paper presents a review of the history of the translation and study of American poetry since the May Fourth Movement, with its emphasis on the period since the opening-up of China, and believes that the 100 years’ history witnesses Chinese academia’s imitating and absorbing in the May Fourth Movement period, learning and growing in the late 20th century, borrowing and dialoging in the opening of the 21st century, and equally exchanging and independently innovating in the New Era. This paper reveals the scholarly tradition of China’s translation and study of American poetry for its own use on the one hand and the cultural self-confidence and spirit of independent innovation of Chinese scholarship in the New Era on the other.