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Among the many types of novels translated at the end of the Qing dynasty, the detective genre was the one with the most popular success, particularly Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The multiple translations of these adventures inspired the detective genre in China, and gave rise to numerous academic works. By comparison, Arsène Lupin, the “gentleman-burglar” of French novelist Maurice Leblanc, attracts much less attention. Zhou Shoujuan, a master of modern Chinese popular literature, a famous editor and translator, began to translate and introduce Arsène Lupine in 1914. His translation strategies, which consisted of adapting and modifying the original text and characters’ personality for the Chinese audience, transform Arsène Lupine into a “just man”, demonstrating “wisdom and courage”, drawing inspiration from swashbuckling novels (romans de cape et d’épée). He thus creates for his readers a unique fictional universe. This article explores the transformation of Arsène Lupine from burglar to folk hero, carried out by Zhou Shuojuan. It examines Zhou Shuojuan's cultural imagination through his translation work, and highlights its value of dialogue between Chinese and Western literary traditions and cultural values. The strange journey of Arsène Lupin in modern China deserves to be analyzed from a more global perspective through a detailed comparison of Chinese, French and English translations, which is also the subject of this article.