A chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of ascorbic acid was proposed, which is based on the enhancement of the CL intensity of $Ru(bipy)_3^{2+}$ - Ce (IV) system with the addition of ascorbic acid. The CL intensity is proportional to the concentration of ascorbic acid in the range of $1{ imes}10^{-10};to;1{ imes}10^{-5}M$ with a correlation coefficient of 0.9985. The detection limit is $3{ imes}10^{-11}M$. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of 10 determinations of 0.1 mM ascorbic acid was 1.75%. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of ascorbic acid in the commercia] drinks. The possible mechanism of the CL reaction was studied.