The invention relates to an active double-mode rope-driven five-finger dexterous manipulator. The manipulator comprises a palm assembly, a thumb assembly, an index finger assembly, a middle finger assembly, a ring finger assembly and a little finger assembly, wherein the thumb assembly, the index finger assembly, the middle finger assembly, the ring finger assembly and the little finger assembly are arranged on the palm assembly. The manipulator has the advantages that the structure is simple, the design is reasonable, and grabbing is flexible; the manipulator can grasp objects in a pluralityof ways through a thumb rotating motor; according to the manipulator, through two different driving modes, the problems that a manipulator is slow in object grabbling and the grabbing force of the manipulator is small are solved, the manipulator can grab an object quickly, and the generated grabbing force is large; and according to the manipulator, a four-bar mechanism is adopted, so that the number of finger driving motors is reduced under the condition that the basic daily life function of the manipulator is not affected, meanwhile, the complexity degree of the manipulator is reduced, then the manufacturing cost of the manipulator is reduced to a great extent, and the weight of the manipulator is correspondingly reduced at the same time, and therefore the manipulator has outstanding advantages in terms of the manufacturing cost and the quality and the size of the manipulator.